(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Former federal minister of parliamentary affairs Sher Afghan was on Tuesday badly beaten by hundreds of lawyers angered by his support for president Pervez Musharraf's removal of top judges last year. As soon as the lawyers learned of Afghan's presence at Lahore High Court , they laid siege to the chamber of a lawyer who Afghan had come to visit.
According to Channel 5, a local TV channel, Afghan was trapped in the lawyerÂ’s chamber for five hours, while the crowd of lawyers waiting outside hurled abuse and tried to break down the chamber's door. They said they were angered by what they called Afghan's anti-democratic role in the previous government of president Pervez Musharraf.
| An ambulance was sent to the scene to collect Afghan but the crowd of lawyers snatched the keys from the driver and forced him to flee. |
Afghan, who is around 70 years old, contacted Channel 5 TV and informed it he has a heart condition. An ambulance was sent to the scene to collect Afghan but the crowd of lawyers snatched the keys from the driver and forced him to flee. When Afghan was taken outside to receive medical aid, he was reportedly set upon by the crowd of lawyers.
The leader of the lawyersÂ’ movement, Aitazaz Ehsan, came to the scene and asked the lawyers to leave Afghan alone, but they apparently refused. "We condemn the whole incident. It is sabotage against civil society," one of the leader of the lawyer's movement Munir A Malik told Adnkronos International (AKI). |