Islamabad: US presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden are among 38 Senators who have written to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf urging him to release top lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, who has been arrested under emergency regulations.
The letter, also signed by John Kerry and Ted Kennedy and dated November 6, states that the Senators are "very concerned about the detention of Ahsan", who is the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. Ahsan, who successfully defended deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry after he was suspended by Musharraf in March, has been detained at Adiala Jail following his arrest hours after the imposition of emergency on November 3 by Musharraf.
The Senators said "it is simply not right that Ahsan is being jailed for doing his job". They called on Musharraf to "immediately look into the matter" and urged him "to release Ahsan from prison immediately". Ahsan was a minister in the government of former premier Benazir Bhutto and also served as Leader of Opposition in Pakistan's upper house of parliament.
