ISLAMABAD: PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari will appear before the Accountability Court Rawalpindi on Tuesday in the assets reference recently reopened by the government.

According to PPP spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar, Mr Zadrai arrived in Islamabad on Monday night for the purpose.

He said PPP had decided to fight the case vigorously as all other accused in the case had already been acquitted.

Mr Babar said the party was astonished on the government’s move to reopen the case despite the fact that Mr Zardari had supported it in many difficult situations.

Meanwhile, Mr Zardari’s lawyer Senator Farooq H. Naek said the government had reopened the case on the request of the National Accountability Bureau. The reference against the former president was closed in 2010.

He said it would be the first appearance of Mr Zardari in the case. “I have already cross-examined 33 witnesses in this case,” he said.

According to the reference, Mr Zardari and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto are accused of illegally acquiring their assets. The case was tried also in a Swiss court.

Sources said that reopening of the reference was necessary to seek mutual legal assistance from Switzerland for repatriation of Mr Zardari’s assets for which the government had recently written to the Swiss authorities.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play