nastyleg
04-01-2010, 04:15 PM
Pakistan to ask Switzerland to reopen Zardari cases
Pakistan's anti-corruption agency is to ask Switzerland to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Zardari.
The move came after Pakistan's Supreme Court said it would jail the head of the agency if he did not take action.
Mr Zardari and his late wife, former PM Benazir Bhutto, were convicted by a Swiss court in a $15m money-laundering case in 2003. They denied the charges.
Swiss prosecutors now say they cannot reopen the case because Mr Zardari has legal immunity as a head of state.
Pakistan dropped the Swiss case soon after Mr Zardari's Pakistan People's Party came to power in 2008. He and his wife had appealed against the conviction.
An amnesty protecting Mr Zardari and other top officials from prosecution in Pakistan was annulled by the Supreme Court in December.
Court pressure
The court has been demanding corruption cases be reopened ever since, several of them involving Mr Zardari.
Before taking office, he spent years in jail after being convicted on corruption charges he says were politically motivated.
On Tuesday, Pakistan's Supreme Court threatened to jail the head of the country's anti-corruption agency unless he reopened hundreds of corruption cases.
It said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Naveed Ahsan would be in contempt of court if he did not act within 24 hours.
"In light of directions of the court on the revival of the Swiss cases, the NAB has initiated the process," Abid Zuberi, a lawyer for the agency, told the court on Wednesday.
The Swiss Justice Ministry said it had yet to receive any request from Pakistan.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8596708.stm
Pakistan's anti-corruption agency is to ask Switzerland to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Zardari.
The move came after Pakistan's Supreme Court said it would jail the head of the agency if he did not take action.
Mr Zardari and his late wife, former PM Benazir Bhutto, were convicted by a Swiss court in a $15m money-laundering case in 2003. They denied the charges.
Swiss prosecutors now say they cannot reopen the case because Mr Zardari has legal immunity as a head of state.
Pakistan dropped the Swiss case soon after Mr Zardari's Pakistan People's Party came to power in 2008. He and his wife had appealed against the conviction.
An amnesty protecting Mr Zardari and other top officials from prosecution in Pakistan was annulled by the Supreme Court in December.
Court pressure
The court has been demanding corruption cases be reopened ever since, several of them involving Mr Zardari.
Before taking office, he spent years in jail after being convicted on corruption charges he says were politically motivated.
On Tuesday, Pakistan's Supreme Court threatened to jail the head of the country's anti-corruption agency unless he reopened hundreds of corruption cases.
It said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Naveed Ahsan would be in contempt of court if he did not act within 24 hours.
"In light of directions of the court on the revival of the Swiss cases, the NAB has initiated the process," Abid Zuberi, a lawyer for the agency, told the court on Wednesday.
The Swiss Justice Ministry said it had yet to receive any request from Pakistan.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8596708.stm