Gilani: Not guilty to contempt charge

Pakistan's Supreme Court Monday charged Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani with contempt for not reopening corruption cases against his president. Gilani, who could be removed from office and even sent to jail if convicted, pleaded not guilty, the Press Trust of India news agency reported from Islamabad. Gilani has been under pressure from the high court for the past two years to write a letter to Swiss authorities to re-open graft cases against Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. Gilani has maintained the president has immunity. Gilani, 59, the first Pakistani prime minister to be arraigned for contempt by the apex court, pleaded not guilty in the packed court room, PTI reported. The seven-judge high court panel, led by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, adjourned the hearing until Feb. 27. Monday's hearing came after the high court last week dismissed Gilani's appeal against the summons issued to him in the contempt case. The prime minister drove his car himself to the court and waved to police and the media as he entered the building, Xinhua News Agency reported. Several ministers, political leaders of the ruling coalition and lawmakers were also present in the Supreme Court to show solidarity with the beleaguered prime minister, Xinhua reported. In its charge, the court said Gilani had "willfully violated" its demands for reopening the corruption cases, CNN reported. Gilani has said Zardari enjoys immunity in Pakistan and abroad as a president in office. In a weekend interview with al-Jazeera, Gilani told the television network he could automatically lose office if convicted of contempt, Pakistan's News International reported. Gilani also said the corruption charges against Zardari were "politically motivated." Zardari also has denied the accusations. The cases previously had been thrown out by an amnesty law. Zardari who was the husband of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in Rawalpindi in 2007 during an election rally. The graft cases against Zardari and Bhutto relate to allegations of money laundering. A Swiss court convicted the couple in absentia but the cases were later dropped under the amnesty provision instituted during the regime of former President Pervez Musharraf. The amnesty law was ruled unconstitutional in 2009, leading the high court to order the government to reopen the cases. Besides the high court, Gilani's government also must contend with growing tensions with the country's powerful military stemming from the so-called memo scandal. In the scandal, it was alleged a note sent last October had sought help of U.S. military authorities to rein in the military and prevent a coup in Pakistan. The Zardari government and Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States have denied any involvement in it.