Foreigners summoned in Cotecna reference

RAWALPINDI: A judge of the Accountability Court Rawalpindi, Syed Najamul Hassan Bukhari, on Monday summoned foreigners accused in the Cotecna reference to court.

The additional deputy prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau, Malik Jamil Awan, informed the judge that he had not received any report from the foreign ministry regarding foreigners being summoned to appear in court.

The court then directed Awan to inform the court after getting the relevant information from the foreign ministry.

Syed Ishtiaq Haider, counsel for the former chairman of Central Board of Revenue A R Siddiqui, one of the accused persons in the case, informed the court in a written application that his client had not appeared in court because he was ill and sought the court’s approval of the application.

The court adjourned the hearing of the reference until August 2. A R Siddique, President Asif Ali Zardari and Nusrat Bhutto are co-accused in the Cotecna reference, which alleges that President Zardari accepted kickbacks when he awarded a contract to the Cotecna trading company. The reference accuses President Zardari and others of receiving $11.8 million in kickbacks in connection with the $131 million contract.

The reference had also named former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, but her name was withdrawn after her assassination in December 2007. The accountability court exempted Nusrat Bhutto from appearing in court on May 15. The Supreme Court on April 23 had also exempted Bhutto from appearing in court after a medical certificate stating that she was ill was presented before the bench.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2010.