Court exempts Zardari from appearance

RAWALPINDI. Former President Asif Ali Zardari accompanied by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) lawyers appeared in Accountability Court of Judge Khalid Ranjha in assets case here on Thursday.
The former president who was flanked by guards appeared in court under tight security and requested the court to exempt him from appearance in the court as he won’t be able to come to court on regular basis due to security reasons. The court accepted the application and granted him complete exemption from appearing in court for future hearings of the case.
Further hearing was subsequently adjourned until June 2, when the court has also summoned the prosecution’s witnesses.This was the first time that the PPP co-chairman appeared before this court since the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reopened the five-year-old reference in April.
The PPP co-chairman is accused of acquiring assets illegally and failing to submit correct details of his wealth. He was previously excused from appearing in court due to ill health.This was Asif Ali Zardari’s first appearance in a court after 14 years.
Earlier, responding to an application of the NAB, the court had reopened a 2001 assets reference. The assets’ reference is one of the six cases instituted by NAB against the former president for his alleged financial corruptions.
These references include SGS pre-shipment, ARY Gold, Ursus tractors, Cotecna, assets beyond means, and polo ground which were closed in 2007 after the former military ruler Pervez Musharraf promulgated the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).
The Supreme Court in December 2009 adjudged the NRO as unlawful and ordered revival of the cases that were closed because of the NRO. However, by then Zardari had been sworn in as the president of the country and had acquired immunity under Article 248 of the Constitution.Asim Yasin adds: Later PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari left for Karachi.
Defence lawyer Farooq H Naek, former prime ministers Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, former Senate chairman Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari, former interior minister Rahman Malik, PPP Central Punjab President Manzoor Wattoo, Sherry Rehman, PPP Secretary Information Qamar Zaman Kaira and spokesperson Farhatullah Babar accompanied Asif Ali Zardari to the court.