Updated on
Summary
Former Attorney General Abdul Qayyum stated in the Supreme Court that the then President Pervez Musharraf directed to end the Swiss case on which he wrote letter to the Swiss court to halt the case. Abdul Qayyum was summoned by the Supreme Court where he told that Asif Ali Zardari filed petition in the Sindh High Court under NRO on February 15, 2008 and the court ordered to end all local and foreign cases against Asif Zardari. Pervez Musharraf directed to act upon the court orders. The SC remakes on it that only Chairman NAB has authority to take back the cases as per NAB Ordinances. Chairman NAB said that prosecutor general of NAB was consulted but only attorney general had approached the Swiss courts. The CJP asked that NAB should inform if it can do anything otherwise it should shut its office. Background of Swiss caseA few days back there was a developing story in Switzerland where the Pakistan UK High Commisioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan specially flew to Geneva to meet the lawyer prosecuting Asif Ali Zardaris Swiss cases in an attempt to confiscate all the evidence present there. It must be recalled that it were the infamous Swiss cases where Mr. Zardari as being tried for charges of money laundering to the tune of $60 million, the charges were dropped after the Pakistani govt aka Pervaiz Musharraf chose not to pursue the case in a deal validated under the NRO with Benazir Bhutto in October 2007. The evidence present in the lawyers office was hence effectively lethal for Asif Zardari if the Supreme Court nulls and voids the NRO Ordinance.It is reported that the lawyer resisted and refused to hand over the evidence unless someone from the local Pakistani High Commission does not categorically receives the evidence. In two hours a staff member arrived and all the evidence was carefully loaded in a black SUV.After departure from Geneva the evidence were apparently flown to London, from there it seems the trail of the evidence simply disappears. When various journalists inquired about this evidence from the Pakistan High Commission in UK and the National Accountability Bureau offices it seems there is much confusion as to who authorized this procedure and more importantly no one seems to know where exactly are these 12 cartons of evidence.
