Ms Bhutto’s counsel Senator Farook Naek, who proceeded to London for consultation with the former prime minister, said on Tuesday that under Swiss law, an appeal could be filed against such orders within 14 days with Switzerland’s general attorney.
Addressing a news conference, Mr Naek said under the Swiss law, once a representation was filed before the General Attorney, the order of the investigation officer was automatically quashed.
Asked for Ms Bhutto’s reaction to the Swiss verdict, Mr Naek said she was “shocked. She was not given a chance of representation nor was she summoned.”
Mr Asif Ali Zardari before his jail trial on Tuesday said: “We will go into appeal against this biased order”.
Describing the pronouncement as being part of a political victimization campaign, Mr Naek said that the order was “illogical, unreasonable, inconsistent with law, based on malafide and is politically motivated.”
“The (Swiss) investigation officer (Devaud), however, chose to bypass this procedure and announced his order apparently because he was not sure whether the general attorney would even find the case worth submitting to a court.
“Under Swiss law it is the general attorney who, after satisfying himself that a prima facie case exists, forwards it to a court of law where the trial takes place under normal legal procedure involving notices to the parties and cross-examination of witnesses”, said Mr Naek in a written statement.
Ms Bhutto’s counsel also released the copy of a letter addressed by Peter Hafter, Ms Bhutto’s attorney, dated July 17, in which he had recalled his meeting with Mrs Carla del Ponte, Swiss Federal Attorney, and her assistants on June 16, 1998.
The meeting had taken place to inquire about the statement made in the press, that the Swiss Federal Office for Police Matters had discovered an account of Ms Bhutto with a Swiss bank, worth between CHF30 million and CHF40 million (Swiss francs).
But according to Mr Hafter’s letter addressed to Ms Bhutto, “Mrs del Ponte had stated that she was not aware that the Federal Office for Police Matters had discovered funds owned by Mrs. Bhutto worth between CHF 30 and 40 million”.
She had “also confirmed that she had no information which could be used against Mrs Bhutto personally and that she was not aware of any assets of Mrs Bhutto in Switzerland”.
Mr Naek said that as an elected official the Swiss investigating officer was a product of electoral politics. His tenure as investigation officer came to an end on July 31. The order passed on his last day in an electoral office was communicated to the Swiss government four days later on August 4.
During all these years Mr Devaud was supposedly investigating the case and until his last day in office notices were not served either on Ms Bhutto or on Asif Zardari even though the latter was in jail and within reach, he said.
Mr Naek pointed out “that the conviction awarded to Ms Bhutto and Mr Zardari in the same case by an Accountability Court in April 1999, was set aside by the Supreme Court in April 2001.