NAB prosecutor resigns, exposes PPP pressure to make weak prosecutions

[Naveed Yaseen]

Thursday, March 25, 2010
Spokesman says cases against Zardari’s friends were weak

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Confirming already existing fears that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will be used politically by the PPP government to exonerate its leadership, a NAB prosecutor has resigned, making serious revelations about how he was being pressurised to seek relief in favour of an accused and to sign reports on court proceeding that he had never prepared.

And the official spokesman for the NAB has stated on record that the NAB would not go into appeal into cases of friends of President Zardari who have recently been acquitted because the NAB did not have strong case against them.

Whether it is a mere coincidence, a twist of fate or the dubious work of friendly NAB, all the NRO-beneficiaries acquitted by the accountability courts so far are close associates of President Zardari.

The shabby role the NAB is being forced to play has been revealed by Prosecutor Syed Hassan Raza Bukhari of accountability courts No III and IV, who resigned on March 18.

In his written resignation letter, a copy of which is available with The News, Bukhari talks of pressures and foul play that he used to face in these cases.

He pointed out that he was being compelled to sign daily report on court proceedings despite the fact that neither such report was prepared by him nor he was ever provided the references and other details of the cases fought in the accountability courts.

ìAs the A/C (Accountability Court) No IV is concerned, no record of any reference was provided to me especially in the cases of Rehman Malik and Asif Ali Zardari and no one asked me to attend the court but every time they (the NAB headquarters) prepared the report and compelled me to sign the same,î the resignation letter read.

It is pertinent to mention here that such daily reports, which the prosecutors are being compelled to sign, are submitted weekly in the Supreme Courtís monitoring cell.

Bukhariís resignation also reveals how once he was directed by the NAB headquarters to move an application before the accountability court for the suspension of summons in case of Nusrat Bhutto, who is an accused in one of the cases.

ìI was compelled by the DG NAB ® to move applications for suspension of summon of Mrs Nusrat Bhutto. I requested the DG NAB ® that it is not appropriate to move applications on behalf of accused but he conveyed his displeasure to me,î Bukhari wrote in his resignation, adding: ìIt is pertinent to mention here that the said case/reference was being dealt by the HQ and I was not provided the copy of reference or any other record. But on each and every date of hearing I was compelled by the DG NAB ® to send the report to HQ with my signatures, knowingly Mr Abdul Basir Qureshi and DPGA (deputy prosecutor general accountability) was appearing.î

He also talked of the re-opening of the cases of Nawaz Sharif but again said here too he was totally blank. In his resignation, he said: ìNow they moved application for re-opening of Nawaz Sharif’s cases pending in Accountability Court No IV but they did not bother to inform me in this regard as the cases relate to Accountability Court No IV which is assigned to me but they only asked me to sign the report.î

Already a lot is being said and written about the unique fashion in which the NAB is cheating the criminal justice system to benefit the powerful NRO beneficiaries but what is now unfolding, further increases doubts about the Bureau, which has already been reprimanded more than once for its ineffective prosecution in the NRO cases.

NAB spokesman Ghazni Khan, however, when contacted, said the NAB did not have strong cases and credible evidence against those already acquitted in NRO cases. He explained that the NAB does not want to waste the time of the superior judiciary by challenging the recent acquittals of accused in NRO cases.

Out of 248 NRO beneficiaries, those acquitted so far are all close associates of President Asif Ali Zardari including interior minister Rehman Malik; principal secretary to the President Salman Faruqi; Sindh local government minister Agha Siraj Durrani; and ex-chairman Pakistan Steel Mills (younger brother of Salman Faruqi and father of Sharmeela Faruqi, adviser to Chief Minister Sindh) Usman Faruqi.

Interestingly in most of these cases, the NAB prosecutors did not object to the acquittal applications of these high-profile people. NAB spokesman Ghazni Khan, when asked to offer his comments over the serious charges levelled by one of its outgoing prosecutors, said Syed Hasan Raza Bukhari had resigned from the NAB because of his personal reasons but is now involved in point-scoring and mud-slinging against the NAB.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=27962