An Account of the Arrest of Advocate Athar Minallah on November 21, 2007
Athar Minallah was arrested on the 21st of Nov. 2007 at approximately 1.30pm. He had been accompanying retired Justice Wajiuddin Ahmad the whole of that morning. After the arrival of the judge from Karachi, Athar took him to the district courts of Islamabad in the F-8 sector where the judge delivered a speech to the lawyers. While still at the district courts, someone conveyed a message that Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohd Chaudhry had left his house and was trying to go to the Supreme Court, but was being prevented by the police. That very day a government spokesperson had announced in the newspapers that the judges "were not detained''. It was due to this news that the Chief Justice and Justice Bhagwandas decided to go to the Supreme Court.
When Justice Wajiuddin and an entourage of lawyers arrived at the scene the place was crawling with police carrying batons and shields and wearing helmets. When Justice Wajiuddin wanted to go and visit the Chief Justice he was denied access to the road leading to the detained judge’s houses, and when he demanded an explanation as to why he was being prevented access the reply was that he would not be allowed to go to the Supreme Court. There were some clashes between police and the lawyers, and loud and angry slogans were being chanted. After the chaos died down, Athar and Justice Wajiuddin headed towards the Islamabad Club where they were to meet a group of foreign media persons.
They had not gone very far when two police mobile vans forced them to stop, one of them in front and the other behind. Around six or seven plainclothes intelligence officers got out of the vans and walked towards the car. They opened the door on Athar's side and started pulling him out of the car, saying that they had a warrant for his arrest. Justice Waji called out to them to stop pulling and to show them the document. The men dragged Athar out of the car, took him to their vehicle and shoved him inside. These details were given by Retired Justice Waji who was much shaken and extremely upset by the event. He made his way to the club and informed the journalists about what had happened. From there he went to the District Courts in Rawalpindi and there addressed the lawyers, informing them of the incident. Then he addressed a huge gathering of people from all walks of life and narrated the same again at a seminar held at the Holiday Inn, Islamabad.
In the meantime I was informed by my driver who had been driving their car that both of them had been arrested. I immediately started calling all the journalists whose numbers I had on my mobile phone. Since the arrest was made near the Marriot hotel, I assumed that the Secretariat police station would be the right one. I went there at approximately 2pm with some friends, but the place looked deserted. The officer on duty said he had no knowledge of the incident and neither could he help us.
Today, in my meeting with Athar at Adiala jail, he told me that when we went to the police station looking for him he could hear our voices since he was in a room next door but had been threatened to keep quiet. The moment we left he was bundled into a private car which then sped towards Pindi. Athar kept asking where they were taking him but got no reply. He was taken to the Sihala police station and forced to wait for hours. Athar kept asking them where they would be talking him and they kept saying they were awaiting orders. He was kept there till about 6pm and then taken to Adiala jail.
In the meantime I had been going to police stations all over Islamabad trying to find him but to no avail. I started to get very worried and my biggest fear was that since plainclothes men had arrested him they might take him to some unknown destination. At about 4pm I decided to attend the seminar that was being held at the Holiday Inn. I was desperate and wanted to meet Retired Justice Wajiuddin to get from him some advice regarding the next step. It was there that I received a phone call from a reliable source telling me that Athar was being moved to Adiala.
I went there the next day to meet Athar but after waiting outside the prison for four hours I was informed that I needed permission from the Home Secretary. The next day I was able to get permission.
Inside the prison I followed a policeman through several corridors and several locked gates till we got to the room where I was to meet him. All the time policemen were in the room with us. Athar looked fine but said that those few hours of uncertainty had been very taxing on his nerves, not to mention my agony. He is in a cell with other prisoners and they sleep on the floor. Mattresses, pillows, or quilts are not allowed. We were told that the maximum capacity of the prison was 2,000, yet, at the moment, the number of prisoners was 6,000.
My heart goes out to the families of those who have gone missing without having been charged, to the wives of thousands of lawyers who were arrested after November 3. Unfortunately we are living in the Stone Age right now. There are no courts, no judges, no constitution, no law, and no fundamental rights. The custodians of law and order have their guns pointed towards the people they are paid to protect. We are cursed with the most despicable dictatorship – the army is busy wiping out their own people, the Chief Justice and judges of the Supreme Court are locked up in their houses. The President says fair and free elections will be held according to the constitution. The prisons are bursting at the seams with people who have stood up for the independence of the judiciary and the corridors of power are bursting with the most amazing collection of spineless people one could ever imagine.