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India-Pakistan

NA passes contentious resolution calling for public hanging of child sexual abusers

2020-02-08

[DAWN] A resolution calling for the public hanging of offenders convicted for sexually abusing and murdering children was passed in the National Assembly on Friday with a majority of votes. The session was presided over by Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri. The hand-written resolution, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, referred to the "brutal killing of 8-year-old Iwaz Noor in Nowshera". "Strongly condemning" the death, the signatories wrote: "This house [...] demands that to stop these shameful and brutal killings of children and give a strong deterrent effect, the killers and rapists should not only be given death penalty by hanging but they should be hanged publicly." Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan presented the resolution in the parliament, which was passed by all politicians, apart from PPP's. Raja Pervez Ashraf, PPP leader and former prime minister, said: "Ramping up the severity of punishments does not result in a reduction in crime." "We cannot put public hanging into practice as it violates the laws of the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... ," he added, reminding members of the parliament that Pakistain is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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India-Pakistan

PTI's Babar Awan resigns from advisory position over alleged involvement in Nandipur scam

2018-09-05

[DAWN] Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan resigned from his post on Tuesday in wake of the corruption reference filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for allegedly causing delays in the Nandipur Power Project. According to the reference filed in the Accountability Court, the bureau holds Babar Awan ‐ who was the federal law minister in the PPP government ‐ responsible for delaying the power project while in office. PPP's Raja Pervez Ashraf, who was the federal minister for water and power at the time, has also been named in the NAB reference.

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India-Pakistan

Asif Zardari, Faryal Talpur appear before FIA in money laundering probe

2018-08-28

[DAWN] Former president Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... , who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... and his sister Faryal Talpur appeared before a joint investigation team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Islamabad to record their statement in a multi-billion rupee money laundering and fake bank accounts case open against them. The two, along with several PPP leaders ‐ including Yousaf Raza Gillani, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Sherry Rehman and Qamar Zaman Kaira ‐ reached the FIA Islamabad directorate amid tight security. There, an FIA team questioned the siblings on fake accounts and transactions associated with them. Zardari, while talking to the media, shrugged off the proceedings. "It is a fake case and unfortunately the case against me was filed during the tenure of Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts... . It was filed on the behest of Mian Sahab," he regretted. "The FIA (officials) can ask whatever they want, but the crux of the matter is [the] facts [speak otherwise]," the PPP supremo said when asked about the probe.

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India-Pakistan

Over 1,900 accused acquitted since NAB's inception

2015-12-20

[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: A total of 1,915 accused and their accomplices, including prominent politicians, prosecuted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), have been acquitted by courts since the inception of the bureau in 1999. According to documents of the Ministry of Law and Justice, of the 1,915 accused, 1,240 have been acquitted in Sindh, 314 in Punjab, 218 in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... and 143 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... (KP). The list contains the names of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , his daughter Mariam Safdar, Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard 2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers 3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... , former prime minister Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... , PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his father Hakim Zardari, besides more than 30 politicians, including former chief ministers, federal and provincial ministers and politicians. The document mentions the name of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as an `approver' in the Hudaibia Paper Mills scam, in which all members of the Sharif family were acquitted. Prominent politicians acquitted in different cases by accountability or high courts over the past 16 years are PML-N Senator Chaudhry Tanveer, Punjab PPP president Manzoor Wattoo, Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, former Punjab minister Basharat Raja, Yousuf Talpur, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Jahangir Badar, Siraj Durrani and Islamuddin Sheikh of PPP and Khalid Kharal, Javed Hashmi, Riaz Fatiana, Liaquat Jatoi, Jam Mashooq Ali, Nawaz Khokhar and Anwar Saifullah Khan. In July, NAB informed the Supreme Court that it was pursuing more than 150 major scams, involving about Rs568 billion acquired through financial and land allotment irregularities and abuse of power. The list of pending cases also contains the names of big guns as respondents, including Prime Minister Sharif and his predecessors Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's former prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics could be awe-inspiring ... and Raja Pervez Ashraf, PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Asif Ali Zardari, former federal and provincial ministers, senior government officials and individuals from banking and finance sectors. When contacted, a NAB official said that he could not provide the number of convicted people but he could say that the conviction rate of those prosecuted by the bureau was good.

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India-Pakistan

'Evasive' NAB list challenged in SC

2015-07-19

[DAWN] The Supreme Court is likely to take up on July 23 an application accusing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of misleading the court by presenting an evasive list of 150 mega scandals. The application, filed by Dr M. Shafiq-ur-Rahman, alleged that the list submitted to the court was not based on facts. A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, indicated that it would issue notices to NAB after going through the application during Eid vacations. On July 13, NAB had submitted an amended list of 150 mega scandals -- 50 cases each of financial scam, land scam and abuse of power. Of them, 71 cases in three categories are in the inquiry stage and 41 in investigation, while 38 references have been filed and are pending in different accountability courts. The list contained the names of top politicians, babus bureaucrats and businessmen, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard 2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers 3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... , former prime ministers Raja Pervez Ashraf, Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's former prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics could be awe-inspiring ... and Chaudhry Shujaat Ahmed and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. In his application, a copy of which has also been submitted to NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, Dr Shafiq alleged that the bureau officials had apparently concealed the names of "real offenders" to save them from accountability. "Such kind of screening is always mala fide and can conveniently be considered obstruction in the process of justice," he said.

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India-Pakistan

SC given list of 150 scams

2015-07-09

[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has informed the Supreme Court that it is pursuing 150 mega scams involving approximately Rs428.3 billion in financial and land irregularities and abuse of power. The list implicates big guns like Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... and two former premiers, Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's former prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics could be awe-inspiring ... and Raja Pervez Asharaf, a caretaker prime minister, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, and former president Asif Ali Zardari. The information was submitted before a three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja. The bench had asked for a comprehensive report while deploring that the bureau was not investigating mega scandals and instead wasting its resources and energy on petty matters. On Tuesday the court had taken up a case relating to maladministration and poor performance of the bureau. The list not only contains names of politicians, former federal and provincial ministers, but also senior babus bureaucrats and individuals from the banking or financial sector. Expressing shock over the NAB report, Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) was quick to react against the allegations and its big shot Ishaq Khakwani said his party had been arguing that both the ruling PML-N and the PPP were in cahoots with each other. "So many references against many politicians of the two parties are lying in the cold storage," lamented Mr Khakwani while talking to Dawn, adding that many cases went to courts, but yielded no results due to weak prosecution. Now with the intervention of the Supreme Court, at least people would learn about big names in corruption and mega scams, he said. PTI's central information secretary Naeemul Haq said that the PTI had been saying that NAB had no capacity to go after big fishes under the existing set-up. Information Minister Senator Pervaiz Rashid said that the cases the PML-N leadership was facing were instituted during the days of retired Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... to victimise the Sharifs. But despite pursuing the cases for eight years, the government was unable to prove anything in courts, the minister added. The road being referred to in the NAB report, he said, has a university and hospitals across it. Building roads were one of the important aspects of the development to provide ease of movement to the citizens, he added. Mr Zardari's front man Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the former president was facing politically motivated cases and that he had been acquitted in two corruption cases. The 34-page summary highlighted 150 cases each of financial scam, land scam and abuse of power. Of these,71 cases in the three categories are still in the inquiry stage by NAB, 41 are under investigation and 38 references have already been filed and pending in different accountability courts. The court, however, was not amused and rejected the report since there was no mention when these cases were initiated and for how long these were still being inquired into or investigated or pending in the accountability courts. The bureau is required to furnish the report afresh with all details. In the category of abuse of official authority, the NAB report says that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother, Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard 2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers 3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... , are facing investigation for misappropriating Rs126 million by misusing their authority in the construction of a road from Raiwind to the Sharif family house. The case is still at the investigation stage, though it came to the notice of NAB in April 2000. The prime minister is also facing another charge of illegal appointments in the FIA by misusing authority in 1999. Similarly, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is facing a probe for amassing assets beyond means. The case is still at the investigation state. Former president Asif Ali Zardari was facing allegations of amassing wealth beyond means worth Rs22 billion. Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, former finance minister Shaukat Tareen, former Pepco chief Tahir Basharat Cheema and water and power secretary Shahid Rafi are also facing investigation in the rental power producer contract to different rental companies. Former caretaker prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and former chief minister of Punjab Chaudhry Pervez Elahi also figure in the list of alleged illegal beneficiaries for misusing their authority to the tune of Rs2.4 billion. Likewise, former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is being investigated on a charge of misuse of authority in the illegal appointment of Tauqir Sadiq as chairman of Ogra. Tauqir Sadiq is also facing corruption cases worth Rs80 billion. A former chief minister of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , Nawab Aslam Raisani, is facing investigations for misusing authority in recruitments but the size of the corruption has not yet been determined by NAB.

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India-Pakistan

Challenge for politicians

2014-12-18

[DAWN] A DAY after the deadliest terror attack in the country's history, the politicianship gathered in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. to focus on the krazed killer threat and, crucially, to develop a unified response. That Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , PTI chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer... , former PPP prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and sundry other national leaders, including from religious parties, chose to address the media together suggests that at long last the politicianship understands the need for unity in the face of the krazed killer threat. Whatever the complexities of crafting a meaningful and effective anti-militancy plan, no strategy can have any possibility of success if the country's mainstream politicianship does not own it and fully support it. For too long, despite several multi-party conferences before, fighting militancy has been seen as the sole responsibility of the party in power, with other political parties either doing little more than paying lip service or, often enough, scuttling the possibility of clarity and unanimity with doublespeak. Now, seemingly stirred by the monstrousness of what happened on Tuesday in Peshawar, meaningful unanimity appears to have been achieved. Political consensus alone, however, will not create a meaningful strategy. Prime Minister Sharif yesterday announced that a committee under the leadership of Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan will devise a policy in seven days to fight militancy. Perhaps the politicianship meant to sound serious and purposeful, but it is not clear what really can be achieved in seven days that could not be done yesterday at the conference. After all, the government already has a nearly year-old National Internal Security Policy in place. Then, four different parties are running the provincial governments in the country and each of them is intensely familiar with various facets of the krazed killer threat. Finally, the mainstream political parties of the country have attended APCs before on the krazed killer threat and also been briefed in parliament by the military leadership. So why not announce immediate steps and wait seven days? With the hard decisions deferred, it will be even more difficult to maintain a consensus in a week's time, given that there are fundamental differences among the various sections of the political spectrum on how to define terrorism, let alone how to defeat it. If there is already reason to doubt that a meaningful anti-militancy strategy will emerge in a week's time, perhaps it can be hoped that the sheer savagery of the Peshawar attack will not allow the usual style of politics to reassert itself so quickly. There was also another important development yesterday: the military leadership's dash to Kabul for urgent talks. That is key because the country's leadership has a choice: either develop a full-spectrum, civilian and military response now or allow the military-led response to militancy to continue. As Peshawar so tragically demonstrated, a military-only response to terrorism is not an adequate strategy.

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India-Pakistan

India terms Bilawal's Kashmir statement 'far from reality'

2014-09-22

[DAWN] India on Saturday described as "far from reality" the reported comment of Pakistain People's Party chairman Bilawal Baby Bhutto Zardari ...Pak dynastic politician, son of Benazir Bhutto and grandon of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. As far as is known, Bilawal has no particular talents other than being pretty and being able to memorize political slogans, but he had the good luck to be born into the right family and he hasn't been assassinated yet... that his party would get back entire Kashmire for his country. New Delhi also asserted that integrity and unity of the country was "non-negotiable", the Press Trust of India said. "We are in the process of looking forward and looking forward does not mean that our borders will be changed. We made it very clear that as far as we are concerned, the integrity and unity of India is non-negotiable," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said. He said the comment was "far from reality which takes us back into the past century". Mr Zardari was quoted as telling his party colleagues on Friday that the PPP would get back the entire Kashmire from India. "I will take back Kashmire, all of it, and I will not leave behind a single inch of it because, like the other provinces, it belongs to Pakistain," he said. When he made these remarks, PTI said he was flanked by former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's former prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics could be awe-inspiring ... and Raja Pervez Ashraf.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistani counter-terror funds spent on luxury gifts

2014-01-24

[DAWN] Pak officials used a secret counter-terrorism fund to buy wedding gifts, luxury carpets and gold jewellery for relatives of ministers and visiting dignitaries, according to documents seen by AFP. The revelations cast a spotlight on high-level corruption in Pakistain as the impoverished but nuclear-armed country battles a surge in Taliban violence. They concern the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) of Pakistain's interior ministry, formed in 2000 to coordinate between the country's intelligence agencies and federal and provincial governments on national security matters. The US and other Western countries have poured billions of dollars into Pakistain since the 9/11 attacks of 2001 to help in its fight against Taliban and al Qaeda linked Death Eaters. The NCMC received some 425 million rupees ($4.3 million) from Pak government coffers from 2009-2013, according to files obtained by Umar Cheema, an investigative journalist for Pak daily The News, and seen by AFP. During that time the interior ministry was headed by Rehman Malik Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship. , a flamboyant loyalist of former president Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistain People's Party (PPP). Watches, carpets, gold, goats Goats? Oh dear. Many of the documents deal with payments to intelligence sources, routine maintenance of vehicles and overtime for employees. But the files also include receipts for gifts for US and British embassy officials, as well as flowers and sweets for journalists. One receipt for 70,000 rupees ($700) is itemised as a "Pair of wrist watches for marriage of nephew of minister for interior". The documents show that on a trip to Rome for an Interpol conference in November 2012, Malik took a necklace, wooden tables and a TouchMate tablet computer as gifts. The counter-terror fund was also used to buy three rugs as wedding gifts for the son of former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf early last year. A set of 21-carat gold jewellery worth $3,000 was bought for one unnamed individual, while another was the recipient of a $1,500 set. A handicrafts store in Islamabad was paid some $23,000 in December 2012 for carpets and crafts given to local officials and delegations from the EU, Iran and India. Among the more bizarre items paid for from the fund was the $800 cost of four sacrificial goats, plus butchery costs, listed as "stabbing charges", for the festival of Eid-ul-Azha. Alms to the poor and donations of sweets, flowers, and cash to a local Sufi saint were also made from the fund in 2012, the documents show. 'You know how Pakistain works' Pakistain's present government, led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , has ordered an audit of the interior ministry accounts from 2010-2013. Ministry front man Danyal Gilani confirmed the audit was ongoing but declined to indicate a timeframe for its completion. The director general of the NCMC, Tariq Lodhi, did not respond to repeated attempts to seek comment. Upon coming to power in June last year, Sharif's government abolished secret funds in 16 ministries in an effort to curb corruption and rein in spending. Malik, who as minister was famed for his expensive ties and purple hair-dye, mounted a firm defence of his conduct on Twitter, denying he had used the fund and saying it was "never under the control of the minister". Asked why some receipts contained hand-written instructions saying they were the minister's directives, Malik told AFP: "You know how Pakistain works. Just because it mentions me does not mean I personally authorised the payments."In a tweet, he said using funds to entertain dignitaries and offer gifts was "routine for 15 yrs". But Moinuddin Haider, who served as interior minister from 1999 to 2002, said the NCMC fund was not set up to pay for "gifts abroad". "The purpose of these funds was to establish offices in the provinces, primarily to be spent on communications equipment and data analysis," he told AFP. Cheema, who won the Daniel Pearl journalism fellowship in 2008, said the affair was indicative of how officials had turned the national terror crisis, which has killed thousands of people across the country since 2007, to their own benefit. "This abuse clearly explains how our leaders convert a tragedy into an opportunity for personal gains," he said. "If history is any guide it's not going to be resolved nor will the abolition of secret funds lead to any corrective measures." Ayesha Siddiqa, a security analyst, termed the use of the funds "sad", but said a lack of clear counter-terrorism policy direction by successive governments was also to blame, as well as the way Pakistain's bureaucracy works. "There is also this problem with the government where if a department gets funds you're in a hurry to spend them, because if the funds lapse they will be deducted the next year and the department will be reprimanded," she said.

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India-Pakistan

I am not accountable: Gilani

2013-07-19

Never thought you were, buddy, never thought you were... LAHORE: Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said that the constitution provides complete immunity to the prime minister and therefore he is not accountable to any law enforcement agency for what he did as the chief executive of the country. Gilani said he had performed his duties as the prime minister in good faith and had taken all decisions on summaries submitted by the ministries and divisions through the Establishment Division. According to press release issued from the Bilawal House on Thursday, the former premier asserted that only parliament could do or undo the immunity because it was the mother of all institutions in a parliamentary system of democracy. He reiterated his stance that he was not answerable to law enforcement agencies for the decisions he took as the prime minister because of the immunity provided in the constitution. He said that he took the stance in the court regarding the availability of immunity to the president of Pakistan but his plea was not accepted and he was disqualified. The former premier said that the letter which his successor Raja Pervez Ashraf wrote to the Swiss authorities as prime minister noted that the president enjoyed complete immunity inside as well as outside the country. Gilani said that people were wondering as to why only the cases relating to President Asif Ali Zardari, himself and his family were being pursued, while the implementation of the Asghar Khan case had been put on the back burner. He claimed that the PPP suffered defeat in the elections due to pre-poll rigging. Gilani said his disqualification, cases against the president and many other things were the visible examples of such rigging.

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India-Pakistan

'Secret' Swiss letter: contempt plea filed against Zardari

2013-07-02

[Pak Daily Times] A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday requesting contempt proceedings against President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... , former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, former federal law minister Farooq H Naek and Law Secretary (r) Justice Yasmin Abbassy for secretly communicating to the Swiss authorities that the Pakistain government was not interested in pursuing the graft cases against President Zardari. Syed Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi filed the petition and nominated as respondents President Zardari, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Farooq H Naek and Justice Yasmin Abbassy. He stated that during the premiership of Raja Pervez Ashraf, Law Secretary Abbasy had sent a secret communication to a law firm, Fontanet Associes Geneva, for official confirmation on the Swiss authorities' inability to revive graft cases against Zardari. The petitioner submitted that existence of the letter became public last week when Attorney General Munir A Malik informed the Supreme Court that although the PPP government had written a letter to the Swiss authorities in compliance with the court order in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case, it also sent a second secret communication to a law firm requesting an official confirmation of the Swiss authorities' inability to revive $60 million corruption cases against the president. Naqvi submitted that the communication made to the law firm was tantamount to committing contempt of court. He contended that the purpose of the second letter was to obstruct justice and requested that President Zardari, former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, former law minister Farooq H Naek and former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar be made party to the case and their names be put on the Exit Control List (ECL). Naqvi further stated that the secret letter written to Dr Nicholas Jeanding of law firm Fontanet Associes Geneva requested explaining the position of the Pakistain government to the attorney general of Geneva that the order of closing the cases by the former attorney general had attained finality and the cases could not be reopened under the Swiss law.

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India-Pakistan

CJ takes suo motu notice of 'blasphemous content' on internet

2013-06-11

[BETA.DAWN] The top judge of Pakistain on Monday took suo motu ...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard... notice on "ever increasing blasphemous material circulating on the internet," indicated by a Brit of Pak origin, said a blurb issued by the Supreme Court. Barrister Amjad Malik, the applicant, prayed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry would issue necessary directions to Pakistain Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the government and other concerned institutions of the country to block such "objectionable pages promoting blasphemy in the name of freedom of expression." The applicant also urged the Supreme Court to direct for meaningful steps for the international community to protect the name of Prophet Mohammad (PTUI!). Barrister Malik drew attention of the apex court towards the blasphemous material for "having far reaching implications on the minds, the lives and liberties of mainstream Mohammedan population." It may be mentioned that YouTube -- a video-sharing website -- has also been blocked in Pakistain by the PTA over 'Innocence of Mohammedans,' a blasphemous movie that angered Mohammedans around the world. Fearing a violent reaction and the subsequent denial of YouTube to remove the anti-Islam film, the website was blocked on September 18, 2012 on the orders of then prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf. The site was back on earlier this year but was blocked once again after a few hours.

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