Presidential candidate detained in Pakistan

By Xinhua

Islamabad : The police Wednesday took former justice Wajeehuddin Ahmed, who had run for the president, into custody here, the News Network International (NNI) news agency reported.


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Wajeehuddin Ahmed was leading a procession of lawyers to the residence of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who has been under house arrest since Nov 3 when President General Pervez Musharraf proclaimed emergency and sacked him, said the news agency.

A group of lawyers, led by Wajeehuddin Ahmed, started a march to the residence of the ousted chief justice and chanted slogans against Musharraf and in favour of the former chief justice. The police stopped them and arrested Wajeehuddin Ahmed and another senior lawyer.

Lawyers fielded Wajeehuddin Ahmed as a presidential candidate against Musharraf in the Oct 6 elections. He later challenged in the Supreme Court Musharraf’s qualification to contest the elections.

Earlier, the police locked the main gate of the house of Chaudhry when he planned to go to the Supreme Court.

Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema said Tuesday that all judges were free but when the deposed chief justice tried to go out of his residence Wednesday morning, the police stopped him. Several other sacked judges were also not allowed to come out of their houses in Islamabad, the NNI report said.

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