RAWALPINDI, Aug 8: The High Court Bar Association (HCBA), Rawalpindi, on Friday said the Swiss magistrate’s judgment against Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari had no legal value and was part of the ongoing character-assassination campaign of the Pakistani government.

Speaking at a press conference here, the HCBA secretary- general, Shah Khawar, along with the former president of the District Bar Association, Sardar Shaukat Hayat Khan, highlighted the technical faults in Swiss magistrate Daniel Devaud’s judgment and termed it a mere inquiry report and not a full judgment.

Mr Khawar said Mr Devaud’s status was just equal to that of a deputy director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Pakistan and that his decision further needed full trial from the attorney-general of Switzerland. Moreover, he said, the decision was based on assumption and possessed no solid evidence.

He also alleged that the decision was the outcome of Musharraf government’s lobbying and asked the latter to make public the correspondence made between Mr Devaud and the Pakistani authorities.

Referring to Mr Devaud’s judgment, he said how could any body give a judgment without hearing the defendants or the accused.

He said information minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed was misleading the nation by saying the fine amount imposed on Benazir Bhutto and her spouse would be spent on the flood-affected people as the amount could not be transferred to Pakistani authorities within the next five years.