Detailed NRO judgement points fingers towards Zardari’s assets stocked abroad

The Pakistan supreme court has released its detailed verdict on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), which apparently points fingers towards millions of dollars ‘secretly’ stashed abroad by president Asif Ali Zardari.

The 287-page judgment by chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry citing the example of Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, whose laundered money was brought back from the safety vaults of Swiss banks, said such incidents could be taken as reference in similar cases.

The verdict, which was released on Tuesday, referred to the cases of Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, late president of the Philippines, and Sani Abacha, head of the state of Nigeria, who were found involved in corruption and corrupt practices and were charged accordingly.

The verdict said that Pakistan is also signatory to the United Nation’s Convention Against Corruption, 2005 and had ratified it on 31st August 2007, regarding international cooperation in criminal matters, The Daily Times reports.

It is worth mentioning here that the Pakistan government has been reluctant to implement the apex court’s short order (of December 16) against the NRO, saying that it would do so only after receiving the detailed judgment.

Now, that the 68,930-word judgment is out, it still remains to be seen that what action the PPP government takes against Zardari.

It may be noted that, in September 2000 Filipino Anti-Corruption Court had made, prima facie, decision that the entire 627 million US dollars of Marcos’ funds, be repatriated from Switzerland, and were to be considered the property of Philippines.