Lawyers representing PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah are done with the constant policing of the politician’s trial. They claim that the police don’t allow other lawyers or reporters to enter the courtroom.
They boycotted court proceedings on Saturday in protest and asked for an open trial of the drug trafficking case against the MNA.
The police even start using a megaphone when any PML-N leader is speaking to the media, said one lawyer, adding that 2,500 policemen have been deployed for only 25 to 30 people. “How is this fair?”
Attaullah Tarar, a PML-N lawyer, even had a fight with policemen outside the judicial complex in Lahore. The police shoved him and he pushed another policeman in response.
“We are not mentally prepared right for the case,” said Zahid Bukhari, a lawyer of Sanaullah. We fear that the police will beat the lawyers, he said. “They have surrounded us, why shouldn’t we fight back?”
The court adjourned the hearing till December 14. The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) had arrested Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah on July 1, claiming to have recovered 15-kg heroin from his vehicle.
The FIR was lodged under section 9 (C) of Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, which carries death penalty or life imprisonment or a jail-term that may extend to 14 years along with a fine up to Rs1 million.
