Bhutto party says stop trials after Sharif pardon

December 15, 2000
Web posted at: 8:18 AM HKT (0018 GMT)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) -- Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's party urged Pakistan's military rulers Thursday to stop pursuing charges against her and other politicians following its pardoning of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

A resolution issued after a joint meeting of the two top bodies of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) also called upon the 14-month-old military government to restore democratic process and hold free and fair elections under an interim government.

Most political parties have sharply criticized military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf for a deal with Sharif under which he released the man he ousted 14 months ago from prison on Sunday and sent him to an indefinite exile in Saudi Arabia.

The government said it pardoned Sharif from sentences of up to 25 years and exiled him after receiving his clemency appeals and an offer from Saudi Arabia to receive him.

Other sentences confiscating properties worth more than $9 million and banning him from holding public office for 21 years remain.

Musharraf's critics say the move shattered the credibility of an anti-corruption drive he launched after toppling Sharif in a coup in October 1999 and could also affect a new political alliance formed to oppose military rule.

Call to disclose deal

The PPP asked the government to disclose "the pressures and contents of the secret deal" with Sharif, under whose government a special court sentenced Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari to five years' jail and an $8.6 million fine for corruption.

The couple's challenge to the sentences is pending before the Supreme Court. Bhutto's ailing mother Nusrat, now living with her daughter in Dubai is also wanted for trial in a corruption case.

"In the circumstances there remains no moral justification to prosecute those cases against...Benazir Bhutto, her family or other party leaders initiated by Sharif," the PPP resolution said. "Such cases (should) be withdrawn immediately."

It demanded the immediate release of Zardari in compliance with medical bail granted him by a court and an end to the detention of several other party leaders.

Zardari has been in jail for four years since Bhutto's government was sacked in 1996 by then president Farooq Leghari on disputed charges of corruption.

Bhutto did not return home for fear of arrest after the special court sentenced her and Zardari in April last year on charges of receiving kickbacks from a Swiss firm.

Bhutto had complained of victimization by Sharif, but the parties of the two former prime ministers set aside their bitter rivalry and joined forces 12 days ago in the new 18-party Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy to oppose army rule.

The alliance has come under strain with some parties accusing Sharif of doing a deal behind their backs to gain his release.

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