Mosul lawyers have gone on a general strike to protest the Coalition's arrest of Ballawi Yaseen, a senior representative of the Lawyers Union, on charges of bribery and corruption.
| "I mean, we're lawyers, after all..." |
The rest comes just a month after a slew of judges were fired on similar charges, causing dramatic disruptions in Mosul's judiciary. Lawyers marched to the governorate building to protest the humiliation of Iraq's legal institutions.
| Being an infidel and all, I'd have thought the humiliation of Iraq's legal institutions lay with the bribery and corruption, not with rooting them out. Silly me. |
When they arrived to governorate building in the center of town, Raad Barhawi, a member of the local town council worked to calm tempers mentioning, highlighting the authority of the Coalition and warning of the possibility of having agitators slip through and turn the demonstration violent, injuring the reputation of the Iraqi judiciary. But Mr. Barhawi encourages lawyers to carry on their strike until Ballawi is released. The strike is expected to delay court proceedings and cause further disruptions. |