0
RAWALPINDI, Sept 27: An accountability court here on Monday summoned six Swiss nationals in the Cotecna case, rejecting the argument that the local court could not call foreigners.
Court-III Judge Najmul Hassan Najam issued fresh summons for N. J. H. Marsat, vice president, William J. Popple, general manager, John Brodharst a manager, Ian Durham, Bently and Chris Clark, liaison officers of Cotecna Company, and put off the hearing till October 29.At the previous hearing, a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor said the local court could summon foreigners. On the other hand, the federal law ministry had informed the foreign affairs ministry that under the NAB laws, foreigners could not be summoned and the local court had no authority to seek personal appearance of the Swiss nationals.
Cotecna is a corruption reference of awarding pre-shipment contracts to the Swiss company.
Late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband President Asif Ali Zardari were accused of taking six per cent of the total revenue of pre-shipment for awarding the $131m contract. The company was to supervise Pakistan's customs services. Begum Nusrat Bhutto, A R Siddiqui, former chairman CBR, and six Swiss directors are co-accused in the case.
