Media Advisory
November 13, 2007
|
Contact:
Oroma Mpi (City Bar), 212-382-6713 |
Lawyers Rally In Solidarity With Pakistani
Lawyers and Judges
 New York, NY - This
afternoon, the New York City Bar Association,
along with the New York State Bar Association,
the New York County Lawyers’ Association
and other organizations, rallied on the steps
of the County Courthouse at 60 Centre Street
in support of the lawyers and judges affected
by Pakistan’s emergency rule.
Speakers at the rally included the presidents
of the three bar groups: Barry Kamins, President,
New York City Bar Association; Kathryn Grant
Madigan, President, New York State Bar Association;
and Catherine A. Christian, President, New York
County Lawyers’ Association, as well as
Ali Ahsan, a New York attorney whose father,
Aitzaz Ahsan, is reportedly being held in solitary
confinement in Pakistan. Aitzaz Ahsan, President
of Pakistan’s Supreme Court Bar Association,
was arrested after the declaration of emergency
rule.
The following organizations
co-sponsored today’s
rally: Amnesty International; New York Council
of Defense Lawyers; New York State Association
of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Muslim Bar Association
of NY; and the Women’s Bar Association
of the State of New York.
“Lawyers and judges are the bulwark of
a democratic system and are indispensable to
maintaining the rule of law by speaking out when
others will not or cannot,” said Barry
Kamins, president of the New York City Bar Association
which organized the rally. “They are the
ones most aware of the rights and responsibilities
that we all have in a civilized society, and
it falls to those of us in the legal profession
to preserve those rights.”
On November 7, 2007, the New York City Bar Association
issued a letter to General Pervez Musharraf,
President of Pakistan, denouncing the suspension
of Pakistan’s Constitution.
Click the link to view video of the rally:
http://www.nycbar.org/rally.htm
About the Association
The New York
City Bar Association (www.nycbar.org)
was founded in 1870, and since then has been
dedicated to maintaining the high ethical
standards of the profession, promoting reform
of the law, and providing service to the profession
and the public. The Association continues to
work for political, legal and social reform,
while implementing innovative means to help
the disadvantaged. Protecting the public’s welfare remains one of the
Association’s highest priorities.
back to top
|
