Karachi bar meeting: ‘No lawyer to defend another’s murderer’

The lawyers want compensation, protection and arms.


Express June 18, 2011

KARACHI:


People accused of killing lawyers in Sindh will find it near-impossible to find legal representation after the Karachi Bar Association’s general body meeting at the city courts’ Shuhada Hall on Saturday.


“I will personally monitor lawyers’ murder cases and make sure that no one represents suspects who we are sure were involved in the murder of [one],” KBA president Muhammad Aqil told The Express Tribune. “If anyone takes such a case, we will cancel their KBA membership. If the lawyer is a member of the Sindh Bar Council or Sindh High Court Bar Association then we will ask the two bodies to cancel their membership.”

Representatives of the Sindh Bar Council (SBC), Malir Bar Association (MBA) and Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) attended the meeting as well.

SHCBA acting president Abdul Jabar Qureshi, SBC’s Naeem Qureshi, MBA president Ashraf Samo, KBA general secretary Haider Imam Rizvi spoke at the meeting.

The lawyers demanded that they be issued arms licences so that they can protect themselves. They condemned the attacks on lawyers all over the province and insisted that the government protect lawyers and compensate the families of those who were killed or wounded. “The government has not arrested a single man involved in the target killing of lawyers, which is a matter of concern,” said Naeem Qureshi.

They want Rs3 million for the deceased and Rs1 million for the injured. They decided to write letters to the Sindh chief minister and prime minister, addressing the government’s failure to provide compensation.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2011.

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