Pakistan PM Yousuf Raza Gilani charged with contempt by pak suprem court

[praveen007]

BBC News - Pakistan PM Yousuf Raza Gilani charged with contempt
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Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani has been charged with contempt in an appearance before the country's Supreme Court.
Mr Gilani is accused of failing to re-open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The prime minister, who faces jail and being barred from office if convicted, pleaded not guilty.
Mr Gilani argues that the president - who denies the corruption charges - has immunity as head of state.
President Zardari is accused of using Swiss bank accounts to launder bribes.
The Supreme Court has said Mr Gilani defied a court order to write to the Swiss authorities and ask them to re-open the cases against Mr Zardari.
Mr Zardari says the charges against him are politically motivated.
Analysts say the case is part of a stand-off between the government and the judiciary, which many believe is being backed by the military as it pursues the case against the civilian administration.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera television, Mr
Gilani acknowledged he would have to stand down if convicted.
"If I'm convicted, then I'm not even supposed to be a member of the parliament," he said.

 

[untitled]

PM Gilani in court to face contempt charge | Pakistan | DAWN.COM

 

[Zarvan]

ISLAMABAD: A seven member bench headed by Justice Nasir-ul- Mulk Monday framed charge against Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani in a suo moto case No. 4/2010 etc (Contempt of Court Matter) for non-compliance of para 178 of the Supreme Court judgement in National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Gilani is the first prime minister of the country who has been indicted.

He was indicted over not implementing paragraph 178 of NRO verdict spreading over two pages.

The court asked PM Gilani have you read the charge sheet upon which he replied in affirmative and said he understands the indictment.

Attorney General (AG) Maulvi Anwarul Haq has been asked by the apex court to act as the prosecutor by the SC.

All the judges signed the charge sheet one by one. Aitzaz begged time till 24 for submission of reply as he was going out of the country and will come back by 21st.

The apex court asked the prosecutor to submit the required documents till Feb 16.

Hearing of the case adjourned has been adjourned till February 22. The evidence by the PM will be recorded on Feb 27 and 28.

The bench comprising Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Muhammad Athar Saeed after a brief proceedidngs of the contempt of court case framed the two-page charge sheet against the Prime Minister for non-compliance of the Supreme Court judgement on NRO.

Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan appeared before the court as counsel of the Prime Minister.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Asfandyar Wali Khan and federal ministers including Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, Syed Khurshid Shah, Mir Changeze Jamali, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Rehman A Malik and Maula Bakhash Chandio, Governor Punjab Sardar Latif Khan Khosa and a large number of members of the Parliament and leaders belonging to PPP were also present in the court room during the contempt proceedings against the Prime Minister.

 

[Baby Leone]

hmmmm Mr. PM should write a letter to the swiss govt....


Hope to see the strong judiciary in whole SAARC countries where even strong ppls are not spare & are answerable, to end the corruption....


Hatts off to the Pakistan judiciarry, Media, Civil Sociaty & Govt as well for giving a new tradition.

 

[iPhone]

I think the the very last minute he'll agree to write the letter to get the cases open. Just like how they waited the last minute to restore the judges. I don't think he wants to get convicted of contempt.

 

[arihant]

Although people would love to see Yousuf Raza Gillani being convicted but remember, in a democracy, only Public should change the head of the Govt. Today, I wish to throw away congress in India but that can only be implemented only in 2014 Election and not now. If you dislike Govt. this way, millitary will become powerful and would take over again without being accountable.

---------- Post added at 11:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:22 AM ----------

I think the the very last minute he'll agree to write the letter to get the cases open. Just like how they waited the last minute to restore the judges. I don't think he wants to get convicted of contempt.

If he gets convicted, he would become matryd and this would allow him to get more crowd.

 

[Baby Leone]

Although people would love to see Yousuf Raza Gillani being convicted but remember, in a democracy, only Public should change the head of the Govt. Today, I wish to throw away congress in India but that can only be implemented only in 2014 Election and not now. If you dislike Govt. this way, millitary will become powerful and would take over again without being accountable.

---------- Post added at 11:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:22 AM ----------



If he gets convicted, he would become matryd and this would allow him to get more crowd.

u should hav some knowledge before commenting on matters, we know tht cann't happened in India cz of the power govt hav on judiciary, plus its the law of the country tht if any one convicted cannt become PM or parliment member, & in Pakistan ppls have power to change whole govt through voting but here individuals also answerable This is called "Rule of Law" buddy, so please dont teach us democracy.

 

[arihant]

u should hav some knowledge before commenting on matters, we know tht cann't happened in India cz of the power govt hav on judiciary, plus its the law of the country tht if any one convicted cannt become PM or parliment member, & in Pakistan ppls have power to change whole govt through voting but here individuals also answerable This is called "Rule of Law" buddy, so please dont teach us democracy.

I am not saying he is above law. But what is important is clear separation of authorities of institution. Clashes between institution will weaken democracy and allow Army to become powerful. Moreover, Corruption charges against Zardari can be framed once he is ex-president which he will become once you go and vote against him. But if you give your power to judiciary it will cost you in future. Remember all the coups were validated by the same judiciary. That's the reason I feel, it may come happiness in short run but looking at 20+ years, it will undermine executive power. I know you all hate Zardari and PPP but best way to solve this is to complete wipe out this party in vote and allow other party come in power and prosecute them in court. Once Judiciary becomes powerful it will become unanswerable in future. Had your country remained democratic without military rule you would have understood. Remember we all loved Indira Gandhi but she became autocratic and our Aawam shown her door.. It got completely out of power. But after few years, we backed Indira again. This prove that Aawam is supreme, will remove when needed in election but would not allow other institution to take over Aawam's power of selection which has been done many time in Pakistan by military.

Remember, even here in India we hate Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Advani, etc. but this only get decided in election. One more thing even Anna Hazare fail to attract crowd which put forward the democratic concept that support can only be gathered through election and not by rallies and protest.

 

[Yeti]

Gilani's defence is that the President has immunity from prosecution which is correct in that sense.

 

[Baby Leone]

I am not saying he is above law. But what is important is clear separation of authorities of institution. Clashes between institution will weaken democracy and allow Army to become powerful. Moreover, Corruption charges against Zardari can be framed once he is ex-president which he will become once you go and vote against him. But if you give your power to judiciary it will cost you in future. Remember all the coups were validated by the same judiciary. That's the reason I feel, it may come happiness in short run but looking at 20+ years, it will undermine executive power. I know you all hate Zardari and PPP but best way to solve this is to complete wipe out this party in vote and allow other party come in power and prosecute them in court. Once Judiciary becomes powerful it will become unanswerable in future. Had your country remained democratic without military rule you would have understood. Remember we all loved Indira Gandhi but she became autocratic and our Aawam shown her door.. It got completely out of power. But after few years, we backed Indira again. This prove that Aawam is supreme, will remove when needed in election but would not allow other institution to take over Aawam's power of selection which has been done many time in Pakistan by military.

Remember, even here in India we hate Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Advani, etc. but this only get decided in election. One more thing even Anna Hazare fail to attract crowd which put forward the democratic concept that support can only be gathered through election and not by rallies and protest.

its not a clash its just a Rule of Law no one in Pakistan is above Laws, i mean i know it is not normal in south asian or developing countries tht judiciary calls head of state to answer, so it seems a clash for u guys, In developed countries it is normal as it shows how above ur laws are, sorry but in the name of democracy we cannot tolerate corruption just like our neibours. & remember there are two things wiping current govt is another thing we will do it in next elections if our people want but this case is different.

 

[Baby Leone]

Gilani's defence is that the President has immunity from prosecution which is correct in that sense.

BTW why this clause is there in Intl laws tht only predident hav immunity? why not others just a querry

 

[Yeti]

BTW why this clause is there in Intl laws tht only predident hav immunity? why not others just a querry

Thats a good question wish I knew the answer im guessing its something to do with the high status of the post

---------- Post added at 07:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:28 AM ----------

Immunity from prosecution (international law) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

---------- Post added at 07:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:29 AM ----------

The offices usually recognised as attracting this immunity are Head of State or Head of Government, senior cabinet members, Foreign Minister, and Minister for Defence[1]. Such officers are immune from prosecution for everything they do during their time in office. For example, an English court held that a warrant could not be issued for the arrest of Robert Mugabe on charges of international crimes on the basis that he was a presently serving Head of State at the time the proceedings were brought[2]. Other examples are the attempts to prosecute Fidel Castro in Spain and Jiang Zemin in the USA.

 

[saiyan0321]

Thats a good question which I knew the answer im guessing its something to do with the high status of the post

yoh tu yaar woh machine gun say logo ko mar day koi kuch nahi kar paye ga sounds like communism no this law shouldnt be there like in kosovo the president who gave them freedom resigned bowing to courts saying the law is supreme

 

[Yeti]

yoh tu yaar woh machine gun say logo ko mar day koi kuch nahi kar paye ga sounds like communism no this law shouldnt be there like in kosovo the president who gave them freedom resigned bowing to courts saying the law is supreme

Says here that once he leaves office they are liable to be prosecuted for crimes committed before or after their term in office, or for crimes committed whilst in office in a personal capacity.

 

[Omar1984]

Gilani says he will resign if convicted

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has said that if convicted by the Supreme Court he would not remain member of the National Assembly and resign as Chief Executive.

In an interview with Al Jazeera TV, the prime minister said, "My lawyer is extremely capable and I do not think it would happen like this".

He said cases against President Asif Ali Zardari were politically motivated and he was exonerated by the courts in Pakistan. He said even cases were instituted against him and he spent five years in jail.

He said the president was elected by the National Assembly, Senate and the four provincial assemblies and he is part of the parliament and enjoys immunity in Pakistan and world over.

Asked if the civilian government was more powerful or the military, Gilani said under the constitution, the prime minister is the chief executive and running the country. He said presently he enjoys good relations with the military.
He said he did not know that Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan. He rejected the impression that ISI knew about the presence of bin Laden and said if ISI had known it, it would have been known to the entire world because of advancement in technology. He said ISI and CIA worked very closely and arrested high value targets and he was of the impression that bin Laden was killed with the information of ISI. He however said it became clear later that it was a unilateral action by the USA which he said is against the sovereignty of Pakistan.

About drone attacks, the prime minister said the present government did not give permission to US to fly drones from Pakistan. He said former president had some understanding with the US because he was having all the posts of President, Chief Executive, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and Army Chief.

About the hunting down of the drones, Gilani said the Parliamentary Committee on National Security has finalised recommendations about new terms of engagement with the US and on supply lines to US and NATO led forces which would be debated by the parliament and whatever the recommendations, these would be implemented by the government.

He said Pakistan has used all the channels and thoroughly discussed with the US administration that drone attacks were counterproductive.

He said these attacks are causing collateral damage and there is reaction among the tribesmen and that makes the job of the government difficult.

He pointed out that Pakistan has suffered a loss of $69 billion in the war on terror.

Gilani categorically rejected the impression that Pakistan was supporting Taliban and posed a counter question why should we support them. He said Pakistan wants a stable, independent, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan. He said Pakistan will support any political reconciliation which is afghan owned and Afghan led.

About relations with India, the prime minister said thee has been lot of misunderstanding between the two countries. He stressed that they cannot afford war because both are nuclear powers. That was why after coming to power, he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh several times, who seems to be a sincere person, he added. He said they agreed to discuss core issues including Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, water and others. These issues have been discussed at the secretary- level and now the foreign ministers would hold negotiations on them.

Asked to comment on reports about possibility of Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear installations, Gilani said Pakistan is for peace in the region as it does not want any destabilization in the region. He said Pakistan favours resolution of all issues through dialogue.


Gilani says he will resign if convicted | The Nation


Democracy doesn't work in Pakistan. Give Pakistan to Pakistan Army for a 100 years and then we will work on democracy.