Pakistan's courts in lockdown

• Story Highlights
• Pakistan police, lawyers clash in Islamabad on Tuesday
  
• An estimated one out of four attorneys are in nation's jails
  
• Police sources: Cash bonuses given for beating lawyers
  
• Cell phone service in Islamabad fails on Tuesday

LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Baton-wielding police fought with lawyers outside courthouses in Islamabad and Lahore again Tuesday, arresting dozens more as they enforced Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's crackdown on judicial activism.

With one in four lawyers now jailed and many judges detained in their homes, surrounded by soldiers, Pakistan's judicial system is in lockdown three days after Musharraf suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto left Karachi for Islamabad Tuesday for meetings with other opposition leaders about how to respond to Musharraf's declaration.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry -- fired by Musharraf Saturday -- in a phone call to a gathering of lawyers urged them to go to "every corner of Pakistan and give the message that this is the time to sacrifice."

Musharraf'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 Musharraf was really targeting was an expected Supreme Court ruling that would bar him from another term as Pakistan's president.

About 3,000 Pakistani lawyers, rounded up since Saturday, sit in jails across the country with no courts operating to which they can seek release. Pakistan has an estimated 12,000 lawyers. Watch Aamir Ghauri of Geo TV discuss the crackdown »

Police earned cash bonuses for beating and arresting hundreds of lawyers Monday who had gathered outside of Lahore's courthouse, police sources said.

Any lawyer who attempts to enter the Lahore or Islamabad courthouse Tuesday was immediately arrested, witnesses said. Some were grabbed by police as they walked toward the court, sources said.

Chief Justice Chaudhry, speaking by phone to lawyers gathered in Islamabad Tuesday, told them to carry the message of sacrifice.

"Don't be afraid of anything," Chaudhry said. "God will help us and the day will come when you'll see the constitution supreme and no dictatorship for a long time."

Chaudhry's remarks were interrupted when Islamabad's cell phone system suddenly died. There has been no way to confirm the disruption was planned by police.

Chaudhry has been unable to leave his home since it was surrounded by soldiers Saturday night. His house arrest prevents Chaudhry from participating in rallies with lawyers, something he did last March when he was previously sacked by Musharraf.

Chaudhry, who was reinstated to the court in July, has led key rulings that have weakened Musharraf's grip on power -- including lifting the exile imposed on opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by Musharraf in a 1999 bloodless coup. When Sharif attempted to return to Pakistan last month he was immediately ordered back into exile.

Musharraf defends actions

Despite Tuesday's arrests, the day has so far been less eventful than Monday when Pakistani security forces used tear gas and batons on lawyers and journalists demonstrating against Musharraf's declaration.

Despite strong pressure from the United States, Britain and other countries to reverse his decision, Musharraf 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 Lahore.

According to a press release from Musharraf: "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 Pakistan reported that Musharraf 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 Musharraf took the action days before a Supreme Court ruling that would have nullified the October presidential results.

Musharraf 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 Pakistani constitution forbids a sitting military leader from running for president.

Musharraf, who is the Pakistani 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.

Washington and London are reviewing their aid packages to Pakistan in light of the state of emergency, which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called "highly regrettable."

But a senior U.S. 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 Pakistan over the next few days before making any kind of decision.

"President Musharraf 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."


CNN's Mohsin Naqvi in Lahore contributed to this report.
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