World | Pakistan
Islamabad presses Swiss court case against Zardari
Lawyers representing Pakistan urged a Swiss court yesterday to prosecute the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, accused of stashing 60 million Swiss francs ($55 million; Dh201 million) in the Alpine country.
- Reuters
- Published: 01:15 February 21, 2008
Geneva: Lawyers representing Pakistan urged a Swiss court yesterday to prosecute the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, accused of stashing 60 million Swiss francs ($55 million; Dh201 million) in the Alpine country.
For more than 10 years, Geneva judicial authorities have been investigating allegations that Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari took kickbacks from Swiss cargo inspection companies and hid the proceeds in Swiss bank accounts.
Zardari became leader of Bhutto's Pakistan's People's Party after her assassination on December 27. Yesterday, he began stitching together a coalition that could topple President Pervez Musharraf after the PPP won most seats in elections this week.
At a hearing, Swiss lawyers for Pakistan argued that money laundering charges against Zardari should proceed in Geneva in spite of an amnesty signed by Musharraf last year erasing graft charges against the couple.
Pakistan's Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the legality of that amnesty. Swiss lawyers representing the state said the decision was expected in "a few weeks".
"This dossier is a bomb for Zardari," Pakistan's Swiss lawyer Dominique Henchoz told the Geneva court.
"His name appears on each page as the beneficial owner of offshore companies. Some 60 million Swiss francs have been frozen [in Geneva accounts]," she said.
Bhutto and Zardari always denied the charges. The three-judge court in Geneva, presided over by judge Valerie Laemmel-Julliard, announced at the end of the 90-minute hearing that it would rule soon on whether to send the case to the prosecutor for trial, or back to a magistrate for more work.
Jacques Python, the senior lawyer for Pakistan, which is a civil party in the case, said: "The facts which Mr Zardari stands accused of, taking commissions paid into accounts, are duly documented. It is urgent to act. The statute of limitations on some of the charges expires in July 2009."
Money laundering allegations would be harder to prove under Swiss law if the amnesty is upheld and corruption charges are dropped in Pakistan, legal experts say.
Saverio Lembo, Zardari's lawyer in Geneva, called for the case to be suspended pending the ruling by Pakistan's Supreme Court.
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