Crack Down on Lawyers

The crackdown began late Tuesday night, with the government invoking Section 144 of the 1860 Penal Code, a law from the British colonial era that forbids public gatherings of four or more people. As whispers of imminent arrests gathered momentum and local television channels exhibited lengthy lists of intended targets, many prominent lawyers and politicians went into hiding, just as they did during a crackdown operated by former President Pervez Musharraf (who was defeated at the polls by the combined parties of Zardari and his now estranged ally Nawaz Sharif). (See pictures from the historic 2008 election that brought down Musharraf.)