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Pakistani Supreme Court reconsiders amnesty ruling
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Pakistani Supreme Court reconsiders amnesty ruling
ISLAMABAD
Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:23am EST
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court was considering on Wednesday its ruling to challenge an amnesty decree that has protected President Asif Ali Zardari and some aides from graft charges.
World
A widely expected court decision to strike down the 2007 amnesty decree, introduced by former president Pervez Musharraf, would heap pressure on Zardari, even though he is protected from prosecution by presidential immunity.
The court said a ruling was due at 1130 GMT but more than three hours later there was no sign of a decision.
"If you read between the lines, the court is seized of the fact that this is a bad law, discriminatory and inherently violative of certain articles of the constitution," said Rashid Rehman, editor of the Daily Times newspaper.
"We do expect it to be struck down."
Musharraf introduced the amnesty that protected about 8,000 people, including politicians and civil servants, as part of a power-sharing deal brokered with Zardari's late wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, with U.S. and British encouragement.
Bhutto returned to Pakistan from self-imposed exile soon after the amnesty was introduced, but she was assassinated just over two months later while campaigning for a general election she had hoped to win.
Instead, Zardari led her party to victory in the February 2008 polls and he became president after Musharraf stepped down later that year.
Zardari's image has long been tarnished by allegedly shady deals during Bhutto's two terms as prime minister in the 1990s.
He says the charges were politically motivated. He was never been convicted but nevertheless spent 11 years in jail.
He is now deeply unpopular and his government is perceived as weak in the face of a Taliban insurgency and a struggling economy.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule that old corruption cases can be reopened if it rules the amnesty unconstitutional.
Among those protected by the amnesty are the interior and defense ministers and several of Zardari's top aides.
The government has said it will accept the court's decision but pressure is likely to mount quickly for officials facing charges to resign.
The United States, keen to see Pakistan widen its battle against Taliban militants on the Afghan border, is likely to be dismayed by the prospect of political turmoil distracting the government's attention.
(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
World
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