ISLAMABAD: The Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) disclosed on Monday that a Swiss tribunal’s verdict regarding the case of a valuable jewellery set, belonging to the legal heirs of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, has been referred to the law ministry for translation.
“The Swiss Tribunal’s verdict was received by the AGP office last week and has been sent to the law ministry for translation,” Salman Aslam Butt said while speaking to The Express Tribune.
Butt added that after the verdict is translated from Swiss into English, he would be able to give his opinion to the government on the future course of action.
A Swiss federal tribunal ruled that the valuable jewellery set, seized by authorities in connection with investigations into graft allegations, belonged to former president Asif Ali Zardari or the legal heirs of the late prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The set, which includes a necklace, a bracelet, a pair of earrings and a ring, is said to be valued at over $180,000.
In the judgment issued on October 29, the tribunal rejected ownership claims filed by Bomer Finance for the jewels. The company, allegedly formed by Jens Schlegelmilch and linked to Zardari, was at the centre of the SGS-Cotecna investigation.
According to Francois Roger Micheli, a counsel from the firm Python and Peter, which represented the government of Pakistan before the Swiss tribunal, the judgment states that Schlegelmilch “appeared to have acted as the attorney for the BB-AAZ (Benazir Bhutto-Asif Ali Zardari) couple.”
Senator Farhatullah Babar, who served as spokesperson to Benazir as well as to Zardari, said the piece of jewellery never belonged to Benazir Bhutto. “There is therefore no question that it belongs to her legal heirs or to Asif Zardari. Let there be no doubt or mistake about it,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2014.
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