Thursday, Apr 25, 2024 | Last Update : 07:28 AM IST
Asif Ali Zardari gets reprieve in five cases
A Pakistani court on Tuesday acquitted former President Asif Ali Zardari in five corruption cases.
A Pakistani court on Tuesday acquitted former President Asif Ali Zardari in five corruption cases.
“The accountability court in Islamabad acquitted Asif Ali Zardari in the Societe Generale Surveillance (SGS) and Cotecna corruption case. There were five references against him,” said a court official.
The PPP leader went to Dubai in June this year and has not returned since then.
Mr Zardari had filed acquittal pleas with the accountability court in February this year through his counsel Farooq H Naek. The pleas stated that there was no incriminating evidence against the accused and these cases were constituted on political basis.
Mr Naek claimed that evidence available against his client was not genuine as the prosecution had photocopies of original documents.
In its verdict, the court announced that an accused cannot be punished without availability of the original documents.
In the SGS reference filed in 1997, it was alleged that former chairman of board of revenue A.R. Siddiqui negotiated a pre-shipment contract between the government and SGS.
