The following information was sent in to us from one of our sources, a student at LUMS (Lahore University for Management Sciences):
Faculty who had earlier been arrest from the LUMS (Lahore University for Management Sciences) have now been released on bail while the two groups of people who were arrested on Sunday and Monday in relation to their responses to the imposition of emergency where the first group of about 70 was holding a meeting at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s office in Lahore. The police came in (without warrants, from what I understand) and arrested those attending. This was not a protest, but a HRCP strategy meeting. These people were held at the Model Town police station and were released by Wednesday.
Since the HRCP have a global profile and the people that were arrested, are not people you arrest (yes, there are simply some people that you can’t arrest in this country), the pressure to release them was great.
The other group was the lawyers who staged a protest outside the Lahore High Court on Monday. 340 of them were arrested (many more injured by the police action that morning) under non-bailable terrorism charges. These lawyers have yet to be released. Still, from my contacts, I’ve learnt that they’ve spent the first week in jail in good spirits: The convicts already in jail are overjoyed! Their prayers have been answered! They have themselves legal advice!!! I believe they are giving the lawyers VIP treatment. 🙂
But seriously, things will change in another couple of days. Unless the pressure to relaease these lawyers increases, they may spend up to the next two months in jail.