End of immunity?: Six cases may be opened against President Zardari

The cases include ARY Gold, Cotecna, SGS, Polo Ground, Ursus Tractor and Assets references.

RAWALPINDI:

Six accountability cases against President Asif Ali Zardari are going to be opened in the second week of September.

According to Daily Express the accountability court judges will reopen all these references and will issue summons to the accused.

The Supreme Court, in its judgment on the NRO case had assigned the right of reopening accountability cases to accountability courts.

All the cases were being heard in three different accountability courts in Rawalpindi but now they have been transferred to accountability court No1 in Islamabad. These include ARY Gold, Cotecna, SGS, Polo Ground, Ursus Tractor and Assets references.

The main accused in these cases was former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. However her name has been excluded given her death. The late Begum Nusrat Bhutto was also one of the accused in three references however her name has also been removed after her demise.

The hearing had been postponed indefinitely because President Asif Ali Zardari had Presidential immunity. 15 people accused along with the President had been acquitted.

The accused included Salman Farooqi, Saeed Mehdi, AR Siddiqui, former chief secretary Punjab Brigadier (retired) Aslam Hayat Qureshi, former secretary trade Javed Talat, former federal minister Yousaf Talpur and former director general Agricultural Development  AMH Kango.

President Asif Ali Zardari remains the only accused not to have had a trial. In the Cotecna reference six officers of the Cotecna company of Switzerland have been declared absconders and permanent warrants of arrest for all officers have been issued.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2013.