LAHORE, Nov 4: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy has demanded immediate release of Asif Zardari and urged the Supreme Court chief justice to take suo motto notice against his 'illegal' incarceration.
Speaking at a press conference on the completion of the eighth year of Zardari's imprisonment here on Thursday, ARD Deputy Information Secretary Munir Ahmad Khan put forward six justifications for a suo motto notice of the chief justice.
These included continued violation of human rights, law of the land and various international conventions that bar endless incarceration of any citizen without proving any charge against him.
He said all the 16 cases brought against Zardari were fake and were based on a political basis.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Ehtesab Bureau chairman Saifur Rehman had admitted that the cases registered during the PML-N rule were fake and had been brought on the initiation of certain powers, he recalled.
Another former prime minister and president of the ruling PML, Chaudhry Shujaat Husain, too, had said on record that he, as the interior minister, had refused to institute a drugs case against Zardari believing that it was fabricated, he said.
He regretted that the husband of the twice-elected prime minister Benazir Bhutto was being kept behind bars, though not a single charge could have been proved against him.
Even if he had been sentenced in any one of the cases, the ARD leader said, its jail term would have been less than the time Zardari had served in prison.
The maximum jail term under the charges against Asif Zardari was 13 years and, according to the jail manual, he had so far served 16 years in prison.
Mr Khan said the jailed PPP leader had showed steadfastness by rejecting all conditional and unconditional offers made to him during the era of Nawaz Sharif as well as by the incumbent rulers for his release under some deal.
He lamented that the man (ex-president Farooq Leghari) who had initiated political victimization of Asif Zardari was himself facing inquiries in 21 references.
But the investigations into the NAB references was pending for Leghari had extended support to the army dictator, he said.
He alleged that Leghari's wife, when her spouse was the president, had purchased a chadar (headscarf) from the Liberty Market for Rs500,000 which was made from the national kitty. But the woman later returned the scarf and bagged the money instead of refunding it to the treasury, he added.
KHARAL: PPP leaders should have courted arrest to force the government to release Asif Zardari, party chairperson Benazir Bhutto's spouse imprisoned for the last eight years, says Federal Council secretary-general Khalid Kharal.
Speaking at a press conference here on Thursday, he said had he been party's secretary-general or provincial president he would himself have courted arrest directing other colleagues in the party to follow the suit.
He believed that more could have been done for the cause than what had so far been done by the incumbent PPP leadership.
Asked if he would carry the proposal to the ARD's platform for adopting the strategy to get released Javed Hashmi, Yousaf Raza Gilani, Zardari and other ARD leaders, he said, "yes". The final decision would, however, be taken by the ARD, he added.
Similarly, he was asked if he believed that ruling PML's secretary-general Mushahid Husain's suggestion about release of political prisoners could strike a national consensus, he said only time could tell it. He, however, was appreciative of the suggestion.
Mr Kharal said that Zardari was being victimized on political considerations.
He said the former Anti-Narcotics Force chief had in written refused to institute the drug case against Zardari, requesting the then political government that the ANF must not be involved in politics. Then the government used police to establish the case, he added.