Switzerland ready to cooperate with Pakistan in Asif Ali Zardari corruption cases

The government of Switzerland showed its consent to cooperate with other states requesting mutual legal assistance through established ways despite expressing complete neutrality on the corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

“Contrary to misperception, Swiss banking regulation is no obstacle for authorities to prosecute. It was regularly lifted in all kinds of investigations including tax offences and money laundering cases, a report in Express Tribune stated quoting the Swiss Embassy in Islamabad.

A couple of days ago, the Supreme Court of Pakistan summoned Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, issuing contempt of court notice for not complying in its rulings in the implementation of NRO cases.

It seems that the ruling PPP will get into trouble if its writes a letter to the Swiss authorities on pressure of the apex court. However, some of the analysts have different stance over the matter.

It is quite a new move that could create problems for the PPP government.

However, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, the counsel of Prime Minister and senior leader of PPP also stated that the president enjoyed complete immunity under article 248 of the Constitution. However, he stated that there was no harm to write a letter to Swiss authorities.

Abid Hasan Minto, another prominent lawyer reportedly said that there were no criminal proceedings pending against Asif Ali Zardari, the president of Pakistan, and (late) Benazir Bhutto, the two-time former prime minister and leader of the PPP.

He stated that a Swiss investigating magistrate granted a six-month suspended sentence to both the accused after all the criminal proceedings have been ended in Switzerland.

While speaking to the media, he observed, “One thing must be clearly understood. Contrary to common perception, the Supreme Court is not asking the government to write a letter to re-open criminal proceedings against anyone.”

He further stated that the government of Pakistan was not a party in the criminal cases against the Swiss Companies Cotenca and SGS. He clarified that it was the Swiss government that started the proceedings on its own rather than on request of the government of Pakistan.

In his view, once the charges on money-laundering were proven, the Pakistani government asked the Swiss government to return the $60 million frozen in the name of those Swiss companies; the ET reported quoting Abid Hasan Minto.

He asserted, “When the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) was signed by former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s government filed a petition asking to withdraw the application regarding the frozen money. And now the court is asking to revive that application if possible.”

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=9632

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jan 18 2012. Filed under National, Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.