Govt. to write Swiss letter as 15-year limit ends next month

Islamabad, Aug. 29 (ANI): The corruption cases in the Swiss courts would die down forever in the third week of September due to the statutory limitation bar of 15 years, a former NAB expert has said.

Barrister Shahzad Akbar, who has been handling offshore corruption cases in the NAB for five years, said under the Swiss Penal Code, the reopening of the corruption cases would not be possible after September 2012 and would die down forever, reports The News.

Meanwhile, sources said Law Minister Farooq H Naek had recently made a 'secret' trip to Switzerland to secure assurances from the Swiss authorities that no action would be taken if a suitably drafted letter was written to the Swiss authorities after September 2012 when the 15-year time limit expired.

Sources in Switzerland said Naek also confided in some Pakistani friends there, hinting that after a few weeks, a letter would be written to the Swiss authorities asking to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari as per the decision of the Supreme Court in the NRO case.

The PPP government has been dilly-dallying with the case and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf succeeded in getting more time from the court to drag the issue further, the paper said.

It is said the tactics being employed are intended to delay the case beyond the expiry date set by the Criminal Procedure Code of Switzerland, a fact further verified through the reading of the statutory law. (ANI)