Asif Ali Zardari mentioned allegations are a part of a vilification marketing campaign by Imran Khan-led PTI (File)
Islamabad:
An anti-corruption court docket in Pakistan on Monday indicted former President Asif Ali Zardari by way of video hyperlink in a graft case the place he was accused of influencing authorities to launch loans to entrance corporations.
As Zardari couldn’t seem within the court docket as a result of “sickness”, the indictment was carried out by way of video hyperlink, which was the primary such indictment within the judicial historical past of the nation.
The 63-year-old husband of the nation’s first girl Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto appeared earlier than the court docket by way of video hyperlink from Bilawal Home in Karachi.
Decide Muhammad Azam Khan of the accountability court docket in Islamabad indicted him and 9 different accused within the Park Lane case.
In the course of the listening to, Zardari maintained that his attorneys are on the Supreme Courtroom and he can’t be indicted within the absence of his attorneys.
Nevertheless, the court docket dismissed this and remarked that Zardari can be indicted regardless, and his attorneys would merely be marked absent if they didn’t seem earlier than the court docket.
The indictment has paved the way in which for the right trial to start.
Different distinguished accused within the case embody the Omni Group chief Anwar Majeed, Sher Ali, Farooq Abdullah, Saleem Faisal and Muhammad Hanif.
All the accused, together with the previous president and Anwar Majeed, maintained innocence and pleaded not responsible earlier than the court docket.
In keeping with the indictment, Zardari influenced the related authorities throughout his tenure as president to launch loans to entrance corporations. He was accused of being a director of the Park Lane firm and planning to commit fraud.
The previous president allegedly acquired his entrance firm, Parthenon Non-public Restricted, a mortgage of Rs 1.5 billion with ailing intention, and the cash was then transferred for his private use by way of faux accounts.
The Nationwide Accountability Bureau accused the previous president of inflicting the nationwide exchequer a lack of Rs three.77 billion within the case.
Within the 13-page NAB case in opposition to Zardari and different accused, the anti-graft watchdog alleges that the accused created properties underneath faux names by way of Park Lane Firm utilizing Parthenon Non-public Restricted because the entrance firm.
Zardari has mentioned the allegation was a part of a vilification marketing campaign by Imran Khan-led ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) social gathering to malign the Opposition leaders.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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