Islamabad: The government has sent to the Swiss attorney-general a letter withdrawing a 2008 letter issued by the then Pakistani attorney-general that led to the closure of graft cases in Switzerland against President Asif Ali Zardari.
Based on a government-prepared draft approved by the Supreme Court on October 10, the letter was sent through the Foreign Office on Monday, Pakistan Television said on Wednesday.
Law minister Farooq H. Naek had told a five-judge bench that the letter shall be delivered to the Swiss attorney by the Pakistani Ambassador in Switzerland or his representative.
The bench had directed that proof of actual receipt of the communication by the Swiss attorney-general should be produced before the court on November 14.
The approval of the draft marked the end of a nearly three-year standoff between the government and the apex court over the implementation of a 2009 verdict quashing an amnesty granted by military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2007 for politicians facing corruption cases.
The verdict had ordered the government to revive all cases shelved under the amnesty decree, including the those closed in Switzerland.
Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani lost his job for refusing to write the Swiss letter on the ground that the president has immunity under the constitution and international law.
The court convicted Gilani in April on contempt charges and removed him from office on June 19.
His successor Raja Pervez Ashraf averted possible similar action against him when he appeared before the court on September 18 and gave an undertaking to write the Swiss letter.
The government has said the incumbent prime minister agreed after its concerns were addressed in the draft through a paragraph reading: “This is without prejudice to the legal rights and defences of the President/Head of Sate which may be available under the law, constitution and international law.”
