KARACHI, Nov 4: Pakistan People’s Party has demanded release of Asif Zardari, husband of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who on Tuesday completed seven years in prison on different charges.

According to Munawar Suhrawardy, a spokesman for Bilawal House, Mr Zardari was being kept in confinement to pressure Ms Benazir Bhutto so that she should give up politics for the rights of the people.

But Mr Suhrawardy claimed that the PPP would not compromise with dictators.

He said that Mr Zardari was detained at the Governor House in Lahore during the night of Nov 3-4, 1996, allegedly by an ISI team on the orders of the then President Farooq Leghari. Within 24 hours of his arrest, President Leghari dismissed Benazir government and it was announced on TV that 10 tons of gold and 700 million rupees in cash were recovered from Mr Zardari at the time of his arrest. But the PPP spokesman claimed that seven years had elapsed, yet the courts and the people have not been told anything about this “lie”.

Mr Suhrawardy pointed out that since Nov 6, 1996, Mr Zardari had been implicated in 15 cases. Out of them, six cases were being tried inside jail premises.

Mr Zardari was implicated during these years in Mir Murtaza Bhutto murder case, container case, Alam Baloch murder case, Justice Nizam murder case, two cases of attempt to commit suicide, narcotics case, six Ehtesab references, Property reference, tractor case, steel mills reference, ARY Gold reference, SG Cotecna case, BMW reference and Pologround reference.

Mr Suhrawardy claimed on the one had Mr Zardari was implicated in the murder of Mir Murtaza while on the other Ehtesab Bureau’s former chief had provided a list of 351 Pakistanis to the Swiss authorities in which Murtaza Bhutto’s name was also included and it was allegedly claimed that he was the front man for Mr Zardari in money-laundering.

Munawar Suhrawardy appealed to the Supreme Court to take notice of the prolonged agony of Mr Zardari and order his release in false cases.