The strike continued in the city courts of Karachi due to cases against lawyers for the torture of YouTuber Rajab Butt.The Karachi Bar Association announced a strike in the city court . Lawyers have boycotted court proceedings.Earlier, police registered an FIR against a group of lawyers in connection with violence involving YouTuber Rajab Butt at the City Court, while the Karachi Bar Association announced an indefinite strike from Wednesday, escalating tensions between lawyers and law enforcement.

According to SSP City Asif Baloch, lawyers assaulted the SHO City Court, misbehaved with police personnel and carried out vandalism inside the police station following the incident. He said an FIR had been registered over the violence against Rajab Butt, adding that the law does not allow registration of two FIRs for the same incident. The SSP said lawyers were now seeking registration of another case after the FIR related to Rajab Butt, which was not legally permissible.

He also confirmed that lawyers staged a protest on MA Jinnah Road after the incident, disrupting traffic for several hours. Lawyers held a protest outside the City Court and on MA Jinnah Road over the non-registration of their complaint. The protest, which lasted around seven hours, was later called off, and the City Court Road was reopened for traffic. 

Karachi Bar President Aamir Nawaz Warraich announced an indefinite strike in the City Court from tomorrow, stating that police entry into the court premises would be completely closed. He said the strike would continue until a case was registered against Rajab Butt and others on the lawyers’ complaint. Speaking to the media, Aamir Warraich claimed that people accompanying Rajab Butt had attacked lawyers.

He also alleged that a viral video circulating on social media was edited and did not show earlier footage of the incident. Earlier, Aamir Warraich had warned that if a case was not registered on the lawyers’ complaint by tomorrow, the scope of the protest would be expanded. He reiterated that the Karachi Bar Association stood with the protesting lawyers.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)