Pak SC directs govt to reopen Zardari graft case

Pakistan's Supreme Court directed the government on Thursday, to send a letter to Swiss officials for reopening the graft cases against Asif Ali Zardari with the Prime Minister's approval by 1 pm, after a Swiss prosecutor said the cases could not be reopened as the President enjoys "absolute immunity" as a head of state.

The court pulled up the country's anti-corruption agency for sending a letter to Switzerland to reopen graft cases against Zardari with no leagal value. It said that the letter should be sent by the government and not by the agency. A seven-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, which is hearing a suo moto case on the reopening of thousands of anti-corruption cases following the striking down of an amnesty, raised objections to the letter sent on Wednesday by the National Accountability Bureau to Swiss authorities to reopen cases against Zardari.

The chief justice said the letter had "no legal value" as it was written by the NAB and not the government and that it was insufficient to reopen the cases in Switzerland. The bench said the law ministry should write a letter to Swiss authorities with the approval of the prime minister and send the document by special messenger. The apex court set 1 pm as the deadline for this new letter to be sent to the Swiss authorities.

Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan told the bench that a copy of NAB's letter was with the law ministry and could be sent through proper channels to Geneva. The apex court's objections came a day after Geneva Prosecutor Daniel Zappelli said he could not reopen cases in Switzerland against Zardari as he enjoys "absolute immunity" as a head of state.

"We could go further only if the competent authorities in Pakistan decide to lift the immunity of the head of state, which I do not know whether it is possible according to their constitution," Zappelli told the media on Wednesday. He said there was "absolutely" no chance of the cases being revived if the immunity was not waived.

Zardari and his slain wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, were found guilty in absentia by a Geneva court in 2003 of laundering millions dollars. They were given six-month sentences and fined but both punishments were suspended when they appealed.Swiss authorities abandoned the cases against them in 2008 after the Pakistani authorities asked them to. The cases were among over 8,000 anti-corruption cases that were closed under the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a graft amnesty issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf as part of a secret deal with Bhutto in 2007.

The NAB sent the letter to the Swiss authorities on Wednesday after it was given an ultimatum and the chief justice threatened to imprison NAB chairman Naveed Ahsan.

The apex court's stand reflects the stand-off between Zardari and Chief Justice Chaudhry, whom the president had refused to reinstate for over a year after he was deposed by Musharraf during the November 2007 state of emergency.