Zardari arrives in Islamabad, due in accountability court tomorrow

Rehman Malik says PPP will stand and face the charges against them.

ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Islamabad and is due to attend proceedings in an accountability court for the five National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references against him, Express News reported on Wednesday.

Zardari had earlier missed three hearings, citing security threats.

Former interior minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Rehman Malik confirmed that Zardari arrived in the city.

“We [PPP] have always faced victimisation,” he said, adding that the party will stand and face any charges against them.

“Jails and handcuffs are not a big deal for the people’s party,” Malik stated.

Malik said they will wait and see if the court decides to call Zardari alone or chooses to hear from others as well.

The court had earlier decided to indict Zardari on December 9 in four graft references out of five pending against him.

In October, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had permitted Zardari to use bullet-proof vehicles with tinted glasses and to keep his private security at his “own expense” owing to the threats to his life from militants. His lawyers Naek and Shazia Hanjrah had said that the top political leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was receiving threats to their lives from extremists, particularly since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

References reopened

Just as the chief graft buster Qamar Zaman Chaudhry had assumed charge on October 11, an accountability court in Islamabad had reopened five references against Zardari and summoned him before the court.

The court notice had stated that Zardari’s immunity to trial ended with him stepping down from the presidency.

Cases against Zardari

• Polo ground case – One pending reference surrounds the illegal construction of the polo ground and other ancillary works at the Prime Minister House, which are in violation of rules and procedure.  In this case, the court had acquitted Saeed Mehdi, while the case against Shafi Sehwani, the former chairman of Capital Development Authority, was withdrawn following his death.

• SGS – In July 2011, pronouncing its verdict in the 13-year-old graft case commonly known as the SGS reference, an accountability court absolved all the accused, except Zardari.

In the SGS reference filed in 1997, it was alleged that then prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her spouse had received kickbacks in a pre-shipment contract between the government and SGS.

• ARY case – Grant of licences to ARY Traders for import of gold and silver caused losses to the public exchequer, amounting to approximately Rs18.2 million.

• Ursus tractors deal – Another reference, which pertains to Ursus tractors deal, deals with alleged misappropriation in the purchase of 5,900 Russian and Polish tractors at a cost of Rs150,000 each, for the then Awami Tractor Scheme.

The court had earlier had acquitted the co-accused Nawab Yousuf Talpur and AH Kango in the case. The Ursus tractors purchase deal allegedly caused a loss of Rs268.3 million to the ADBP and Rs1.67 billion to the State Bank.

• Cotecna – This case involved an allegedly corrupt award for a contract for supervising pre-shipment at the Karachi port.

The contract was awarded to the Swiss company Cotecna in exchange for a bribe during former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s second term. Benazir Bhutto and her husband were accused of taking a 6% bribe on the revenue stream the Swiss company expected on the $131 million contract.