LONDON, Aug 7: The Swiss court had served summons on former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari in a graft case against them and their lawyers had tried to delay the legal proceedings in Switzerland, head of the International Law Group Jeremy P. Carver said here on Thursday.

Asif Zardari was served summons in Lahore jail while Benazir Bhutto, too, was delivered summons from the Swiss court, he said, adding that their lawyers were involved throughout the legal process in Switzerland and had filed dozens of appeals to delay the process, Jeremy Carver, who had worked for Government of Pakistan in 1997-98 for pursuing corruption cases against Benazir Bhutto in the UK, told APP here.

It was “one of at least half a dozen international cases that are at various stages either in Pakistan, Switzerland or in the US” accusing Benazir Bhutto of involvement in money laundering, said Jeremy. He no longer works for the government of Pakistan.

The British lawyer billed as “ludicrous and nonsense” the claim by Benazir’s counsel Senator Farooq Naek that judgment by the Swiss judge was politically-motivated.

“It is absolutely nonsense. Why he should be politically- motivated, he is doing his job,” he said.

Asked why this line was being taken by Benazir Bhutto’s counsel, Mr Jeremy said “this is to feed the political process” back home.

There was enough evidence implicating Benazir Bhutto and her husband and this was one of the graft cases pending against her in Pakistan, the United States and Switzerland, he said.

Mr Jeremy said Nusrat Bhutto had not been sentenced because it was her daughter, who had been involved in money laundering and there was no evidence of Nusrat Bhutto’s involvement.

The judgment was final if Benazir Bhutto did not appeal against the Swiss court’s decision, he said. But if an appeal, which has to be made within 14 days of the judgment, the legal process could take long, Mr Jeremy said. The court could take even months for either accepting or rejecting appeal filed by Benazir Bhutto, he added.—APP