ISLAMABAD, June 9: A Swiss court has summoned former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, her husband Asif Ali Zardari and their agent Jens Schlegelmilch on July 13 to attend the hearing of a money laundering case against them, a government announcement said here on Thursday. It said the Examining Magistrate Geneva “has given the last chance” to Ms Bhutto and her husband to attend the hearing along with their agent.
The government of Pakistan, through its lawyer in Geneva, has also been summoned to attend the hearing as a damaged party.
When contacted, PPP spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar said the order of the Swiss court had been issued on June 3 whereas Asif Ali Zardari suffered a severe heart attack on June 4.
He said the defence lawyer would shortly submit an application along with supporting medical documents to the magistrate informaing him Mr Zardari was undergoing medical treatment and, according to the medical advice, he would not be able to travel for the next 12 weeks.
Ms Bhutto, Mr Zardari, and their agent had already been summoned by the examining magistrate to attend the hearing on June 15. However, they made representations through their lawyers and expressed their inability to appear before the magistrate.
The government announcement cited a statement of Mr Alec Reymond, Ms Bhutto’s lawyer, which was submitted to before the Swiss magistrate before the fresh order. The statement said: “Unfortunately, Ms Bhutto has to remain in Dubai for obligations of a familial nature until June 25. Furthermore, we consider that obviously a meeting between Ms Bhutto, Mr Asif Ali Zardari and Mr Jens Schlegelmilch is necessary. My client is therefore obliged to request another date for her hearing and she would entirely be at your disposal during August 5 to September 9.”
The government also quoted the statement of Mr Zardari’s lawyer, Mr Saverio Lembo, as saying: “Dr Hashmi (based in Karachi) had to go to Dubai to check my client who has been asked for three-week bed rest and advised not to carry out long journeys within the next six months.”
