Pakistan's anti-corruption court issues arrest warrant for ex-PM Gilani

An anti-corruption court in Pakistan on Thursday issued unbailable arrest warrant for former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in a corruption case, court officials said.

Gilani and former commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, along with some officials of the state-owned Development Authority of Pakistan, had been accused of approving and disbursing fraudulent trade subsidies worth millions of rupees to several fake companies through fictitious claims and backdated checks.

Defense lawyers of the accused claimed that both leaders had been implicated by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in false cases as part of political victimization.

The Federal Anti-Corruption Court in the port city of Karachi ordered the arrests and directed the officials to produce the wanted leaders of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party on Sept. 10.

The arrest warrants were issued after the Federal Investigation Agency submitted 12 cases in the court.

Anti-corruption judge Muhammad Azeem Awan issued the arrest warrant after the FIA presented more evidence against the accused.

Source: XINHUA