Swiss won't try Pakistani President

2013-02-10 18:50

President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan. (David Parker, AP/Pool)

Islamabad - The spokesperson of Pakistan's president says Swiss authorities have decided not to open a graft case against Pakistan's president.

Farhatullah Babar says that Switzerland had informed the government that President Asif Ali Zardari has immunity from any prosecution.

Complying with a longstanding demand of Pakistan's Supreme Court, Zardari's government had in November asked Swiss authorities to reopen proceedings against him.

A yearslong confrontation between Zardari and his country's Supreme Court has played out in the Swiss case, which relates to millions of dollars in kickbacks that Zardari and his late wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, allegedly received from Swiss companies when she was in power in the 1990s.

- AP