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| India-Pakistan |
| Zardari Graft Cases: Pak SC okays letter to Swiss authorities |
| 2012-10-11 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] Pakistain's top court yesterday drew a line under a showdown with the government over corruption allegations against the president which has dragged on for nearly three years. Since December 2009, the Supreme Court has insisted that the government re-open multi-million-dollar graft cases against Asif Ali Zardari in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... that were frozen when he became head of state in 2008. Earlier this year it convicted and dismissed prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's former prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics could be awe-inspiring ... for refusing to ask Switzerland to re-open the cases, but the government appeared to back down last month by agreeing to write to the Swiss. After weeks of wrangling over the wording, the Supreme Court yesterday approved a third draft of a letter to the Swiss authorities and asked for an update on the situation in four weeks. "We found that the proposed communication conforms to the judgement of this court and it also expresses concern of the prime minister of Pakistain," judge Asif Saeed Khosa said, ordering another hearing on November 14. The government has long argued that it could not ask the Swiss to reopen the cases as the president has immunity from prosecution as head of state. The full letter was not released, but portions read out in court asked the Swiss to disregard a 2008 communication the former attorney general sent to close proceedings against Zardari. |
| Posted by:Fred |