Can it get any better than this?
Govt to move Swiss courts for defreezing Benazir accounts
PPP chairperson, Zardari file pleas with accountability court for withdrawal of cases
By Dilshad Azeem
ISLAMABAD: The government is all set to move the Swiss courts shortly to seek defreezing of the bank accounts of Benazir Bhutto, her spouse Asif Ali Zardari and other party members.
“Ms Bhutto and Zardari will be able to operate their foreign bank accounts after submission of an application by the Pakistani government in the courts of the said country,” said National Accountability Bureau (NAB) sources on Thursday.
The sources, seeking anonymity, said Benazir and her husband allegedly have Rs 90 to 95 billion in their national and foreign bank accounts. “Besides this, the couple has immovable assets in Pakistan,” added the sources.
When asked about millions of rupees, spent by the Nawaz Sharif and Gen Musharraf governments for tracing these assets or pursuing cases against the couple, the NAB officials said the question should be asked from those who made this decision and promulgated the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).
“As far as their accounts in the local banks are concerned, those are operational as process for withdrawing cases against them is in progress,” added the sources.
However, Pakistan People’s Party sources claim that neither she has any foreign currency accounts nor those were frozen on alleged corruption charges.
Farooq Naek, counsel for Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari, who has filed a petition in the Accountability Court Rawalpindi for withdrawal of SGS/Cotecna and ARY references against his clients and return of their assets, claimed that Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari have no foreign currency accounts.
“I, on behalf of both Mohtarma and Zardari Sahib, make it clear that neither do they hold any accounts in Switzerland nor is there any question of their freezing or de-freezing,” he responded to a question. He said “whatever Benazir Bhutto owns is in Pakistan.”
The NAB sources, however, claim that Benazir Bhutto and Zardari hold $1.5 billion in foreign banks and their accumulative profit may not be less than one billion rupees as they have not been able to operate them since filing of cases against them in the foreign courts.
The NRO has been promulgated by General Pervez Musharraf to withdraw cases against Benazir Bhutto and other politicians and bureaucrats registered from 1986 to 1999. The ordinance will also facilitate many sitting in the government.
Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao has moved the Accountability Court Rawalpindi for withdrawal of the Islamabad New City Project case against him under the NRO.
APP adds: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her spouse Asif Ali Zardari filed separate applications for the withdrawal of six corruption references in the wake of promulgation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance, 2007, here on Thursday.
Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Hanif Khan issued notice to the National Accountability Bureau for Oct 12. The judge also summoned the record of the cases.
The couple’s lawyer Farooq Naek in his application stated that since the NRO, 2007 has been promulgated proceedings in six references may be stopped and these should be treated as withdrawn.
The references pending against Benazir Bhutto include assets reference and SS Tractor reference while ARY reference, assets reference BMW and SGS reference are pending against Asif Zardari in local accountability courts.