Lums has issues the following press release in response to the arrest of two of its faculty members, as they were carrying out a peaceful protest against the recent emergency imposition.

PRESS RELEASE

The academic community of the Lahore University of Management Sciences expresses its extreme outrage at the arrest and detention by the police of its faculty members, Dr. Ali Cheema (Associate Professor and head of Economics Department) and Mr. Bilal Minto (adjunct faculty in the Department of Law and Policy). These members of the LUMS faculty were arrested from the premises of the HRCP in Lahore where they were attending a meeting with several other representatives of the civil society.

This meeting was taking place within the presmises of teh HRCP building and in no way violated any known law of the state. The detainees include several women, and these peaceful assemblers have now been under detention for over twenty four hours. The detention has created unrest and disaffection among students and the academic community and resulted in serious disruption of the academic function of the university. While expressing its complete solidarity with its colleagues for exercising their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, the senior administration of the university urges the authorities to immediately release its colleagues and all members of the civil society who have been detained against all well-respected cannons of justice.