Benazir told to appear in court; Verdict on Nov-30
PakistanTimes.net Staff Report

KARACHI: Judge Parkash Lal Ambawani of the accountability court in Karachi will announe the verdict of the PIA appointments reference against Pakistan's ex-Prime Minister Ms Benazir Bhutto and others on November 30.

The court refused to exempt Bhutto from appearing in court on the judgment date. A prosecutor for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Syed Nasir Hussain, said that if Bhutto failed to appear on November30 and was convicted, the court would adopt the procedure provided by the law.

Bhutto’s counsel Hafeez Lakho had on October 13 applied for an exemption for his client. Citing various superior courts Lakho had submitted that the presence of an accused at the time of the announcement of a verdict was not mandatory.

The NAB prosecutor had argued that the accused could only be exempted on two conditions: when the charges against the accused carry the punishment of only a fine, or when there is no incriminating evidence against the accused.

He had contended that the case, which the former prime minister was being tried for met neither of the two conditions, and therefore the court should adopt the normal course of the law.

The Accused

Benazir Bhutto, AVM (Retd) Umer Farooq, former PIA managing director, former PIAC director Ghulam Qadir Shah Jamot, political secretary to the former PM Naheed Khan and ex-section officer Najmul Hasan are accused of illegally recruiting 1,393 people to the PIAC.

Benazir’s principal secretary Ahmed Sadiq was the accused in the original reference filed during the tenure of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif by the Ehtesab Bureau. He however, later became a witness for the prosecution. During the course of final arguments, Bhutto’s counsel contended that the allegations made by Ahmed Sadiq that Bhutto ordered the appointments in the national airlines were false.

Swiss Court

Another report says that Ms Benazir Bhutto will appear before a Swiss magistrate on November 24 and 25 to assist in the inquiry triggered by allegations of kickbacks and money laundering.

A PPP spokesman here said the inquiry is based on politically motivated allegations of abuse of office made by the regime in Islamabad.

He said that it was surprising the Geneva authorities had allowed investigations into SGS Cotecna pre-shipment inspection contract award to go ahead without any proof.

He said that Ms Bhutto had informed the magistrate during her last appearance on September 19 that the Swiss companies involved in money laundering were not hers.●