Police officers chase lawyers following a clash between lawyers and doctors in Lahore, Pakistan, December 11, 2019. AFP/Arif AliISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Senior members of the legal fraternity on Monday issued an open letter to the Pakistan Bar Council unequivocally condemning the December 11 riots at the Pakistan Institute of Cardiology (PIC).In their letter, advocates and senior advocates of the Supreme Court underscored their anguish at the “inconceivable and unconscionable” move “to attack a hospital irrespective of reasons, provocations or motivations”. Recalling the legal community's obligation to respect and abide by the law as well as due legal process, they denounced the “degeneration of a conflict leading to violence” and regretted how it “brought disrepute to the legal profession as a whole and humiliated the legal fraternity”.Also read: Angry mob of lawyers storm Lahore hospital, one deadThe letter's signatories, which include some of the most recognisable and respected names in the legal fraternity, underscored that although everyone enjoys the constitutional right to protest, demonstrations and strikes by bar councils and bar associations that hinder court proceedings undermine Pakistani citizens’ constitutional right to justice and the lawyers’ obligation to their clients as well as the judicial system. “We also note with regret that the Pakistan Bar Council and different bar associations have not condemned this incident in clear and unequivocal terms,” the statement noted.“We expect that strict disciplinary action will be taken immediately against all licensed lawyers who participated in this unfortunate incident and are penalized by the Pakistan Bar Council as the apex regulatory authority of the legal profession for having grossly breached canons of professional conduct.”The advocates also called upon the PBC, the bar councils, and other lawyers' associations to take affirmative steps to introspect and engage in immediate self-accountability.Read more: Lawyers, doctors go on strike after Lahore hospital clash“We must not become apologists for those amongst us misconducting themselves but to hold them to account and set the standards by seeking legal recourse in respect of any injustice we perceive is done to members of our fraternity but not by way of acting as a mob,” they added in the letter.Last week, a group of lawyers had stormed the PIC’s emergency ward in Lahore, vandalising public property, setting a police vehicle on fire, and attacking provincial minister Fayyaz ul Hasan Chohan. At least one woman had died due to lack of medical attention as the attack unfolded, while several patients were forced out of the building.What sparked the lawyers attack at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology?Videos on social media showed police officials, clad in riot gear, rendered helpless as a swarm of lawyers outnumbering law enforcement personnel broke through the entrance to the hospital.A day later, Punjab police registered two cases under various criminal charges for allegedly attacking the PIC and ransacking the property in Lahore. A first information report (FIR) was registered against 200-250 unidentified lawyers on a hospital official’s complaint, while another was filed on the complaint of police in which 15 lawyers were nominated.Related:250 lawyers booked over Lahore hospital attackPM Imran's nephew took part in lawyers' protest in LahoreThis lawyer threatened doctors before attacking Lahore hospital
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