Pakistan: Arrest warrant issued against former President Asif Ali Zardari in graft case

Pakistan’s anti-graft body reportedly issued an arrest warrant against former President Asif Ali Zardari in a corruption case worth 8 billion Pakistan Rupees. According to The Express Tribune report,  the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) issued the arrest warrant against Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) leader on October 15 over suspicious transactions in the fake accounts case.

The arrest warrant was issued amid crackdown on opposition parties that were mobilising against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. A two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) would hear the interim-bail plea of the Pakistani politician who was shifted to an intensive care unit of a private hospital after a deterioration in health condition, reported Pakistan’s English-language daily.

“Doctors are conducting his medical check-up and necessary medical tests,” the PPP said in its official statement. 

Read: Ex-Pakistan President Zardari Hospitalised 2 Days After Being Charged In Corruption Case

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Multiple corruption charges

The accountability court had charged Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur in a mega-money laundering case on September 28. During a hearing on October 6, the court indicted 19 others accused in the Park Lane case and 15 others in the Thatta water supply case. In the Park Lane case, Zardari and his son Bilawal Ali Zardari are accused of purchasing 307 acres of prime property in Islamabad at very low rates using frontmen.

In the Thatta water supply case, a private contractor was illegally awarded project contracts and in the money laundering case, fake accounts were allegedly used by the former president and the other accused to park and launder the money. During a hearing of Zardari’s bail petition, his legal counsel advocate Farooq H Naek had told the court that the former president is a "chronic patient suffering from multiple ailments." Zardari was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau in 2019 and probed for months before being released in December on medical grounds. 

Read: Former Pakistan President Zardari Indicted In Park Lane And Thatta Water Corruption Cases

Read: Pakistan: Shahbaz Sharif Arrested, Zardari Indicted In Money Laundering Cases

(With ANI inputs | Image: AP)