Boilerplate News For New World Order - Day Three
Simply Fill In The Blanks And Distribute.
Everywhere, The Press Is Now Ready. Are You?-------'s courts in lockdown
* Story Highlights
* ------- police, lawyers clash in ------- on Tuesday
* Thousands of the nation's attorneys are in jails
* Police sources: Cash bonuses given for beating lawyers
* Cell phone service in ------- fails on Tuesday
-------, ------- (CNN) -- Baton-wielding police fought with lawyers outside courthouses in ------- and ------- again Tuesday, arresting dozens more as they enforced President ------- -------'s crackdown on judicial activism.
Three days after President ------- suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency, -------'s judicial system is in lockdown, with thousands of lawyers jailed and many judges detained in their homes.
Former ------- ------- ------- left ------- for ------- Tuesday for meetings with other opposition leaders about how to respond to President -------'s declaration.
Chief Justice ------- ------- [fired by President ------- Saturday] in a phone call to a gathering of lawyers urged them to go to "every corner of ------- and give the message that this is the time to sacrifice."
President -------'s declaration noted a "visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks" and it blamed a judiciary that was "at cross purposes" with his government's efforts "to control this menace."
Opposition leaders, however, suggested the judicial activism ------- was really targeting was an expected Supreme Court ruling that would bar him from another term as -------'s president.
About 3,000 ------- lawyers, rounded up since Saturday, sit in jails across the country with no courts operating to which they can seek release. ------- has an estimated 12,000 lawyers.
Police earned cash bonuses for beating and arresting hundreds of lawyers Monday who had gathered outside of -------'s courthouse, police sources said.
Any lawyer who attempts to enter the ------- or ------- courthouse Tuesday was immediately arrested, witnesses said. Some were grabbed by police as they walked toward the court, sources said.
Chief Justice -------, speaking by phone to lawyers gathered in ------- Tuesday, told them to carry the message of sacrifice.
"Don't be afraid of anything," ------- said. "God will help us and the day will come when you'll see the constitution supreme and no dictatorship for a long time."
-------'s remarks were interrupted when -------'s cell phone system suddenly died. There has been no way to confirm the disruption was planned by police.
------- has been unable to leave his home since it was surrounded by soldiers Saturday night. His house arrest prevents ------- from participating in rallies with lawyers, something he did last March when he was previously sacked by -------.
-------, who was reinstated to the court in July, has led key rulings that have weakened -------'s grip on power -- including lifting the exile imposed on opposition leader ------- -------, who was ousted by ------- in a 1999 bloodless coup. When ------- attempted to return to ------- last month he was immediately ordered back into exile.
President ------- defends actions
Despite Tuesday's arrests, the day has so far been less eventful than Monday when ------- security forces used tear gas and batons on lawyers and journalists demonstrating against President -------'s declaration.
Despite strong pressure from the ------- -------, Britain and other countries to reverse his decision, President ------- has been unresponsive and unapologetic, according to diplomatic officials who met Monday with the president to deliver their concerns, particularly about "heavy-handed" measures taken in -------.
According to a press release from -------: "The president assured the diplomats that efforts were being made in a phased manner to move toward complete democracy."
The state-run Associated Press of ------- reported that President ------- told the diplomats that he took the action he did because certain decisions by the judiciary "created impediments in the fight against terrorism."
He also said the media "in some cases seemed to be helping the cause of extremists and terrorists by showing the gory scenes of suicide bombings that encouraged these elements to carry on with their heinous acts," according to the APP.
Government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, and opposition leaders say President ------- took the action days before a Supreme Court ruling that would have nullified the October presidential results.
President ------- garnered a vast majority of the votes in the election, which the opposition had boycotted. Opposition attorneys had asked the court to rule on their contention that the ------- constitution forbids a sitting military leader from running for president.
President -------, who is the ------- army's chief of staff as well as president, had promised to relinquish his ties to the military before taking the oath of office for a third time on November 15.
------- and London are reviewing their aid packages to ------- in light of the state of emergency, which Secretary of State ------- ------- has called "highly regrettable."
But a senior ------- administration official said that the issue of aid is "a card that has to be played fairly carefully" and that the White House wanted to see what transpires in ------- over the next few days before making any kind of decision.
"President ------- is the leader of his country -- but, in our judgment, he's made a mistake," the official said.
"The question is: What do you do when someone makes that mistake that is a close ally? You know, do you cut him off, hit him with sanctions, walk out the door? Or do you try and see if you can work them to get them back on track?"
"And the President's guidance to us is see if we can work with them to get back on track."
NOTE: Today's version of this news story is here. In what country will the next version of this story take place? The United States?
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