News / Asia

Pakistan's Supreme Court Strikes Down Contempt Law

Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf waves to media in Islamabad, June 22, 2012. Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf waves to media in Islamabad, June 22, 2012.
x
Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf waves to media in Islamabad, June 22, 2012.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf waves to media in Islamabad, June 22, 2012.
TEXT SIZE - +
VOA News
Pakistan's Supreme Court has struck down a law that would have given the prime minister immunity from contempt charges, as a fight between the judiciary and government heats up.

Parliament passed the law last month to protect Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and other top government officials from the same fate as former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

In June, Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled Gilani was ineligible for office after it found him guilty of contempt for refusing its order to reopen corruption claims against the president.

On Friday, the Supreme Court said the law exempting officials from contempt proceedings is unconstitutional.

Current Prime Minister Ashraf now has until August 8 to tell the court whether he plans to ask Swiss authorities to reopen a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari.

For months, the Pakistan People's Party-led government has resisted calls from the judiciary to open corruption cases against Zardari, claiming he has immunity as head of state.

Also Friday, Pakistan's army said a military court has convicted five officers of having links to a banned Muslim group.

Those convicted include Brigadier Ali Khan, who was sentenced to five years in prison. The other four were majors.

The army did not name the organization, but officials said the officers were arrested for having links with Hizb-ut-Tahrir. The Islamist organization says it wants to establish a caliphate or a state governed by Islamic law.

The officers have the right to appeal.

You May Like

India, China Pledge to Overcome Border Tensions

Indian prime minister and Chinese premier attempt to move past tense standoff in the Himalayas during Delhi talks More

Burmese President Opens US Visit with VOA Town Hall Meeting

Ahead of his meeting with President Obama Monday, Thein Sein answered questions on human rights and economic development in his country More

Video Washington Week: Focus on Burma, US Government Scandals

President Thein Sein visits the White House on Monday, Congressional probes of multiple scandals are continuing More

This forum has been closed.
Comments
     
There are no comments in this forum. Be first and add one

Featured Videos

Your JavaScript is turned off or you have an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.
Your JavaScript is turned off or you have an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.
Video

Video Boston Bomber Spent 6 Months in Russia’s Most Violent Republic

The news of the Boston Marathon bombings circled the globe, and resonated here in Dagestan, a majority Muslim republic in Russia, on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Last year, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of two brothers suspected of the bombings and a long-time Boston resident, returned to Dagestan, where he had lived for a year during his youth. Dagestan was the land of his maternal ancestors. But in the last two years, this republic of 3 million people has gained notoriety as the region with the highest level of political and religious violence in all of Russia. VOA's James Brooke reports from Makhachkala, Russia.