NAB references: Zardari not indicted in Polo ground, Cotecna cases

Hearing of the references adjourned to January 18.

ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Ali Zardari was not indicted in the Polo ground and Cotecna cases during the hearing of five National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references against him, Express News reported on Thursday.

An accountability court in Islamabad heard the case today and adjourned the hearing of the references to January 18.

“Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has always respected the courts and so has former president Zardari which can be seen by the fact that he appeared before the court today,” stated former interior minister and PPP leader Rehman Malik, while talking to the media in Islamabad.

“We are suspects and not criminals as these are only allegations against the former president,” he further added.

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

“Jails and handcuffs are not a big issue for the PPP,” Malik had added.

Zardari's lawyer Farooq H Naek requested the court to end the cases as there is no evidence against the former president.

Naek also said his client's presence was necessary in the court to wrap up the cases as all of his co-accused have been acquitted or died.

Defence lawyer Amjad Iqbal Qureshi told reporters the evidence against the former president was flimsy.

"He could not be indicted in the polo ground case because we argued that charges cannot be framed against him as there are no witnesses against him," Qureshi said.

"We hope that he will be acquitted in this and other cases as well."

Dozens of supporters of PPP had greeted Zardari at the court in a leafy residential area of Islamabad, chanting slogans and waving placards.

Background

Zardari had earlier missed three hearings, citing security threats.

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 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.

Comparison to Musharraf

Zardari's aides were keen to contrast their man's willingness to submit to the courts with what they see as the evasiveness of former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf - who many PPP supporters hold responsible for Bhutto's assassination in 2007.

"This is the difference between an elected civilian president and a military dictator," Zardari's spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar told AFP.

"The civilian former president is appearing in court respecting its orders, while the military dictator is running away from court," Babar said.