Pakistan's Bhutto appeals laundering charges

Pakistan's former prime minister, Ms Benazir Bhutto, found guilty of money laundering by a Swiss court and ordered to pay Islamabad…

Pakistan's former prime minister, Ms Benazir Bhutto, found guilty of money laundering by a Swiss court and ordered to pay Islamabad nearly $12 million, has filed an appeal.

Ms Bhutto, who denies the charges, and her jailed husband Asif Ali Zardari, were handed six-month suspended sentences after an investigation by a Swiss magistrate. She was also ordered to hand a necklace valued at $188,000 to Pakistan.

"Bhutto went unrepresented before the investigating magistrate and was without opportunity to challenge documents provided by her political opponents in Islamabad," a statement from her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) said.

The case relates to accusations dating back to the 1990s that Bhutto had access to money through kickbacks from two Swiss companies with business in Pakistan.

READ MORE

Ms Bhutto now lives in London and Dubai and her lawyers attended the case on her behalf.

The Pakistan government, headed by Bhutto's arch-rival President Pervez Musharraf, has sent officials from the National Accountability Bureau to Switzerland over the last few years to look into allegations of money laundering and corruption.

Bhutto also faces charges related to corruption in Pakistan and has been told she would be arrested if she returned.

The Swiss verdict has dealt a blow to Bhutto, whose political success has been tarnished by allegations of corruption during her two terms in office in the 1980s and 1990s.

Her party fared poorly in October, 2002 elections, which she says were rigged by Musharraf to sideline popular democratic parties. But she still commands popular support, especially in the southern province of Sindh.

Mr Farooq Naek, her lawyer, described the fiery former leader as "shocked and upset" at the Swiss verdict. "This case is simply politically to malign her and she is very upset," he said.