Nexus of Saifur Rehman Khan , China & Qatar (Commission & Acoountability)

http://www.zemtv.com/2014/12/06/power-play-saif-ur-rehman-ko-arbon-ke-thekey-6th-december-2014/ http://www.zemtv.com/2014/12/07/rauf-klasera-takes-class-of-pml-n-mohammad-zubair/ Energy trade: After scrapping of tender, LNG politics pick up pace By Zafar Bhutta Published: December 7, 2014 LINE it! Share this article Print this page Email . Speculations rife as government seems to have made up its mind to import gas from Qatar. ISLAMABAD: The politics related to liquefied natural gas (LNG) import have again intensified after Pakistan State Oil (PSO) cancelled an import tender in which top global companies like British Petroleum and Shell could have taken part. Similarly, many tenders were scrapped in the past, but this time experts were hoping for clinching a deal following encouraging response from renowned companies. But the same old episode has been repeated again. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi left for Qatar, which could be a major source of LNG supply, soon after the PSO tender was cancelled. This has sparked speculation that the government has already planned to strike an import deal with Doha in a government-to-government contract through one of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s close cronies, who has been residing in the Gulf Arab state for a long time. During the previous government of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), some ministers had reportedly alleged that the man had blocked a gas deal between Pakistan and Qatar. Despite signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries, Doha at that time did not push ahead with the gas export programme. Speaking at a public rally, Awami Muslim League President Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has also accused the PML-N government of favouring some blue-eyed boys in Qatar through a state-to-state LNG contract with Qatar Gas. He said the government was going to strike the LNG deal with Qatar through one of premier’s cronies, Saifur Rehman, who is residing in Doha. He also pointed out that the government seemed to be in a hurry as it had assigned the special task of finalising an agreement to Pakistan’s ambassador-designate to Qatar. These speculations seem to be spreading after the chief minister of Punjab went to Doha and met top officials. Then the minister of petroleum joined him. This suggests two important things. First, the chief minister has a key role in reaching an LNG deal with Qatar and second, the government has made up its mind for an agreement with Qatar and PSO’s tender was mere eyewash. However, with these developments, Pakistan is going to lose the opportunity of importing LNG at a competitive price. Now, the ball is in Doha’s court and it can demand a price of its choice. During the previous PPP government, Qatar had revised downwards the LNG price offer to $17.437 per million British thermal units (mmbtu), a 0.5% discount over the previous price of $18.002. This would have led to savings of $1 billion over the 20-year lifetime of the project. If all charges are included, LNG supplies from Qatar will cost $19.521 per mmbtu and Pakistan will have to spend $200 million on developing infrastructure for handling imports. Another tender Separately, in response to a tender floated by Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) for an LNG integrated project, Pakistan Gas Port had offered a bid of $17.7074 per mmbtu while Global Energy International quoted a price of $18.16 per mmbtu. According to officials, if the government had awarded the contract to the lowest bidder, the price would have stood at $10 per mmbtu following a sharp fall in oil prices in the world market. These prices were even lower than the revised price quoted by Qatar. The PPP government had also shelved the Mashal LNG import project for which the price was quoted at $11 per mmbtu. Consultant’s view Now, a consultant of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has suggested that Pakistan should enter into a short-term LNG contract for two years because of declining gas prices. However, Qatar is seeking a 15-year contract. According to the consultant, the declining trend in gas price will continue for the next six years and the LNG price is likely to come down to $6 per mmbtu. Let’s see how the government responds to this suggestion. Whether it will go for reaping the benefits of tumbling gas prices for the sake of consumers or strike a long-term agreement at high prices to serve vested interests, only time will tell. The writer is a staff correspondent Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2014. ========== Chairman NHA warns Arshad Sharif of consulting courts China coming up with investment, not loans: Asif By Zafar BhuttaPublished: September 10, 2014 Share this articlePrint this page Email Pakistan government would not give any sovereign guarantees to Chinese investors, who would install power plants in public-private partnership mode. PHOTO: FILE ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Mohammad Asif has lashed out at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman for repeatedly criticising upcoming Chinese investment, saying the money is coming in the form of foreign direct investment and not as a loan that will increase the country’s debt burden. Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday to respond to allegations levelled by PTI chief Imran Khan, Asif said Chinese government had approved $34 billion worth of investment after assessing Pakistan’s electricity needs. “Beijing has designated three banks including Exim bank that will provide loans to Chinese companies for investment in power, railway and transport sectors in Pakistan,” he said. “These loans will not be a liability on the government of Pakistan.” He advised the PTI chairman to consult his aides before issuing statements. “We are ready for scrutiny and accountability,” he said and ruled out the possibility of overlooking bidding rules in the award of contracts to Chinese firms. “We have given advertisements for investment in Gadani power projects and a competitive bidding process will be initiated for upcoming power plants.” Successful bidders would have to show project feasibility reports to Chinese banks to qualify for the loans, he pointed out. He categorically stated that Pakistan government would not give any sovereign guarantees to Chinese investors, who would install power plants in public-private partnership mode. He revealed that Chinese banks would extend commercial loans to private enterprises at 7% mark-up. On the other hand, Pakistan has got concessionary loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank at 2% to 4% mark-up. “The ADB and World Bank have loan deals with Pakistan, therefore, these are concessionary loans whereas Chinese investment is in the form of commercial loans at 7% mark-up,” he said, adding Chinese companies would set up power plants to generate 10,400 megawatts to bridge the shortfall. He also claimed that PTI leader Imran Khan had deposited utility bills and electricity supply would be cut off in case of unpaid bills. Acknowledging that the existing transmission system could carry load of only 16,000MW, Asif announced that the government was going to unveil a policy to pave the way for the private sector to lay transmission lines. He expressed the hope that industrial units, which were shut down due to power shortages, would be revived after an increase in electricity generation. “We face a shortfall of 4,000 to 5,000MW and the Chinese investment will not only help fill this gap, but will also revive the closed industrial concerns.” Speaking about the Thar coal project, Asif said capital injection into the scheme was part of the $34-billion investment programme. The rate of return on coal-based power plants will be 17% to 27%. He admitted that the cost of coal-fired power projects was $1.45 million per megawatt whereas in India it was $550,000. “India produces 60% to 70% of material whereas we would have to import all material for power plants.” The minister rejected the perception that the giant Mansha group would benefit from the investment programme, saying the group would have to go through the bidding process if it wanted to set up a power plant. He also ruled out any role of Saifur Rehman, former NAB chief, in the deal for power plants. “Nepra is the most independent body and defends its independence. It has members from all provinces including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and decisions are taken with consultation,” he said. He also said no changes were made in Nepra laws and the regulator’s chairman was not his brother as he was from Sindh. Published in The Express Tribune, September 10th, 2014. Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation. Share this articlePrint this page Email RELATED STORIES 08 Sep 2014Rescheduled itinerary: Chinese mission says fresh dates eyed for Xi’s trip 25 Aug 2014On fire: Chinese-assembled coach worth millions destroyed 19 Aug 2014Luring investment: Sindh CM stresses on homework Reader Comments (6) ALL COMMENTSREADER'S RECOMMENDATIONS AJamal Sep 10, 2014 - 8:16AM Reply Why would the minister not explain the reason for the cost of coal-fired power projects at $1.45 million per megawatt whereas in India it was $550,000? This differential alone comes to USD 9.5 billion. Recommend10 You Sep 10, 2014 - 9:03AM Reply @AJamal: The answer is simple there is no infrastructure in Pakistan which adds to project cost. Recommend2 Raghu Sep 10, 2014 - 9:09AM Reply No matter what explanation you give Asif. What you say is not usually what you do. Recommend4 kulwant singh Sep 10, 2014 - 9:33AM Reply @AJamal: My dear brother read the news item again he has said that India produces 60% to 70% material locally whereas you have to import 100% that is the cause of the difference. We have enough coal even then we have to import coal as this enables the politicians and beurocates commission our politicians are not much better the only difference is that our Army could not dictate the politicians they have to obey the politicians. Recommend5 Hamid Sep 10, 2014 - 11:20AM Reply Chinese don’t have the best technology for coal. Why International bidding has not been called. Why only Nawas family is involved, why due diligence of the companies involved is not made public. After all we are going to pay the bills. Some thing very fishy is going on. Recommend3 oBSERVER Sep 10, 2014 - 11:35AM Reply All Ministers are congenital liars and this man is no exception. Recommend3 Leave Your Reply Below Name (required) Email Location Web Your comments may appear in The Express Tribune paper. For this reason we encourage you to provide your city. The Express Tribune does not bear any responsibility for user comments. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ. Notify me of new posts by email. Top Story Pakistan initiates talks with Qatar for LNG import Minister flying to Doha Khalid Mustafa Friday, December 06, 2013 From Print Edition 481 2 1 6 ISLAMABAD: After the approval of $2 billion service tolling contract to Engro Vopak Terminal Limited (EVTL) for the import of LNG, the Nawaz government has swung into action to arrange the contract for LNG supply by Qatar. A Pakistan delegation headed by federal minister of petroleum and natural resources Mr Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is being dispatched to Doha, Qatar, where talks for LNG imports will be held on December 8, a senior official of the Ministry of petroleum and natural resources told The News. The official said that Mr Saif ur Rehman is active in Qatar for the expected LNG supply deal for country’s benefit. When contacted petroleum minister Abbasi confirmed that he was going to Qatar to hold talks for LNG import at affordable prices, keeping in view the international prices of LNG. Earlier a delegation headed by Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif held talks with the Qatari authorities for LNG supply to energy-starved Pakistan and in return Qatari government sent the US-based ConocoPhillips Company to Pakistan on July 30, 2013. ConocoPhillips enjoys exclusive rights in Qatar to export LNG. The company had clearly told the government that the negotiations for import of LNG would be initiated only after the government issued the tenders for LNG terminals. It had also demanded sovereign guarantee from the government of Pakistan and inclusion of Asian Development Bank (ADB) in some components of the deal. Sui Southern has already cleared the retrofitting of LPG terminal for import of LNG and also approved the service-tolling contract to Engro Vopak Terminal Limited (EVTL) with certain conditions. Since the government is 100 percent sure that all the conditions would be met by EVTL, it has decided to initiate serious talks with the Qatari authorities for LNG import. According to the minister, the government wants to ensure the first flow of LNG import by November 2014. EVTL terminal will first import 200 mmcfd LNG and then 400 mmcfd. More terminals would also be installed for more LNG import, as the government wants to import 2 bcfd LNG in two years’ time. The board of directors’ meeting of Sui Southern held on November 26 primarily wanted to link the approval of award of the contract to EVTL with the satisfaction of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB), but in the wake of tremendous pressure from top authorities in Islamabad, it approved the project with certain conditions. The board allowed the SSGC to negotiate the LSA (LNG Services Agreement) with EVTL. The negotiations are still under way and LSA will be finalised in the next 7-10 days. It is pertinent to mention that during the approval by board of directors of ISGS and SSGC, the concerns raised by the PPRA, NAB and TIP (Transparency International Pakistan) have not been removed. The three entities were not even provided the details pertaining to the bidding process in the light of the terms and conditions mentioned in the tender. ============== Pakistan seeks extradition of Saif ur Rehman from Qatar Posted: July 18, 2012 - 1820 PKT ISLAMABAD: Interior ministry has written a letter to the Qatar government, seeking extradition of former Chairman NAB Saif ur Rehman from Qatar to Pakistan. FIA had issued red warrant for the former chairman NAB in 2009. Adviser on interior Rehman Malik has said that Saif ur Rehman would reveal the facts if he will be remanded. ========= Pakistan to seek extradition of former Nab chairman from Qatar By Our Correspondent Published: July 19, 2012 LINE it! Share this article Print this page Email . Red warrants have been issued for Rehman. KARACHI: Pakistan will request the government of the Gulf emirate, Qatar, to deport Saifur Rehman to Pakistan to face accountability for his actions. The Prime Minister’s advisor on the interior, Rehman Malik, said on Wednesday that red warrants have been issued for the arrest of the former NAB chairman. Rehman has serious allegations against him and must return to Pakistan to face accountability. Malik said that the Pakistani government has written to the government of Qatar on this matter as Rehman must be sent back to Pakistan to face the charges brought against him. Speaking on Pakistan’s relations with different countries, Malik said that world powers should not interfere with Pakistan’s internal matters as it is more than capable of making its own decisions which will be in its best interests. Through the 18th amendment , law and order is a provincial matter but due to the escalating violent situation in Karachi, President Zardari has directed the interior ministry to increase the number of police personnel in the city. He did not respond to a question about the Arsalan Chaudhry case but maintained said that if the FIA forms another committee, maybe Arsalan would be content with that decision and the case could proceed further. On the Shia website issue, he said “I have no idea they’ve been banned, but they were posting defamatory and unreasonable images.” He gave directives to IT secretary to restore website. He criticised the Sharif brothers and alleged that they maintained close links with banned organisations and they have to clarify their relationship with them to the Pakistani government. =============== Jang Group/Geo TV: EX .Senator Saifur Rehman & Dubious Accountability Process. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/12/jang-groupgeo-tv-ex-senator-saifur.html Jang Group of newspapers and group’s Crusader Journalists like Mr. Ansar Abbasi, Mr Shaheen Sehbai, Mr. Kamran Khan, Mr. Irfan Siddiqui, Mr. Muhammad Ahmad Noorani, Mr. Muhammad Saleh Zaafir, Rauf Klasra and Co. want to use article 6 of 1973 Constitution of Pakistan to try and hang Musharraf but the very same group want to retain the National Accountability Bureau which was “FOUNDED” illegaly by a Military Regime in 1999 after imposing Martial Law by committing Mutiny against the Elected Government of Mr. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. READ THE DETAILS: Martial Law, NRO, NAB & Across The Board Accountability. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/11/martial-law-nro-nab-across-board.html This startling disclosure and the 11-year-long incarceration of President Asif Ali Zardari in cases that remained unsubstantiated in the courts give a benefit of doubt to the two main victims of this so-called accountability process bulldozed by Sharif’s confidant, Saifur Rehman of the Ehtesab (Accountability) Bureau. But what to talk of exoneration in media trials or malicious campaigns, certain quarters are unwilling to give even this benefit of doubt to President Zardari and his deceased spouse in sheer disregard for the undeniable fact that their party is still the biggest repository of the majority votes of the people of Pakistan. Yes, they were democratic machinations and nothing more than that. It was none other than the high-profile and dependable figure of Mian Nawaz Sharif who blew the gaff during his interview to renowned journalist Suhail Waraich whose book is very much available at national and international bookshops. In this interview, while pronouncing the accountability process, ie Saifur Rehman’s accountability process, as wrong, Mian Nawaz Sharif has unequivocally stated that they (the Sharifs and the PML-N) were pushed to do so. To quote Sharif further, “there was pressure on us from the armed forces and the ISI. We were made to take such steps, by design, so as to deal a big blow to the politicians’ credibility.” But that was an era when even the judicial forums have been conducting their affairs in a strange manner. On one day, Bhutto and Zardari would be ordered to appear in a Rawalpindi court and on the next day, they would be directed to appear in Karachi. This in itself speaks volumes of the anti-Bhutto and anti-Zardari conspiracies that would be pursued for years (rather for more than a decade) with ‘enthusiasm’ and exceptional shrewdness. Dates of appearance would be stage-managed, prosecutors would be given specific advice and material and the entire might of the governmental machinery and agency networks would be employed to make sure that Bhutto and Zardari remain in prison, if not as convicts, then as under-trials. The fact is the same that Nawaz Sharif has already been exposed as a leader committed sincerely to the cause of democracy. It is unfortunate that cases sans evidence were instituted during his tenure, but it is heartening that he (Nawaz Sharif) has revealed the truth without any fear or reluctance. Just have a look at some other words of Nawaz Sharif in the same interview. Sharif says: “I was not in favour of arresting Benazir Bhutto, but Saifur Rehman would insist upon her arrest. Ch Shujaat Hussain is witness to this fact that I wanted Benazir Bhutto to go abroad before being sentenced. In fact, I never wanted her to go to jail.” REFERENCE: Anti-Asif Zardari malice exposed By Fasihur Rehman Saturday, December 12, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=212970 NOW READ THESE REPORTS FILED BY ALLEGEDLY A SENIOR CORRESPONDENT “MUHAMMAD SALEH ZAAFIR” OF THE JANG GROUP OF NEWSPAPERS/GEO TV Former Senator Saifur Rehman has vowed that if the government authorities failed in producing whole evidence or deliberately withheld the proof about the corruptions of Asif Ali Zardari and his accomplices in the court, he would provide all the relevant documents pertaining to the ill-gotten money and corruption which have been placed at a safe place and are fully intact and retrievable. – As per Senior Correspondent of JANG GROUP/GEO NEWS i.e. Muhammad Saleh Zaafir: Former chairman of defunct National Accountability Cell Saifur Rehman has said that his name is still on the list given to the Interpol for arrest despite Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s direction to Interior Minister Rehman Malik to remove it. PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif spoke to Prime Minister Gilani three days ago and also wrote to him to end, what he called, the persecution of the Saif brothers. Talking to The News from Doha, Saifur Rehman emphatically denied the allegation that he was using electricity without paying any bill. REFERENCES: Saif to act if evidence concealed By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir Thursday, December 10, 2009 Saif to act if evidence concealed By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir Thursday, December 10, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=26004 Saifur Rehman pleads innocence in power scam By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir Monday, May 25, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=179349 NOW LET ME QUOTE A REPORT FILED BY PAKISTAN PRESS FOUNDATION ON THE FORMER SENATOR SAIFUR REHMAN ON ACCOUNTABILITY AND HIS METHOD OF THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF PAKISTANI PRESS/MEDIA REFERENCE: Pakistan Press Freedom Report 1999 by Owais Aslam Ali http://www.pakistanpressfoundation.org/userranddwithoutpics.asp?uid=210 Reply - December 13, 2009 Aamir Mughal SARDAR FAROOQ LAGHARI & CORRUPTION CASE PART 1 Tummandar Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Laghari http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2008/11/tummandar-sardar-farooq-ahmed-khan.html As per Daily Dawn dated 20 Oct 2007 Former President of Pakistan Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari [a former central member of PPP] while addressing a press conference at Leghari House on Raiwind Road on Friday said, Mr Leghari opposed the National Reconciliation Ordinance. He said he had proposed national reconciliation a month ago but amnesty for corruption looked strange. He said amnesty could not be justified if army officers, bureaucrats and politicians who had plundered national resources did not return the money stolen by them. He said the ordinance had been challenged in the Supreme Court and its fate depended on its verdict. He said corruption was one of the reasons for which he had dismissed the Ms Bhutto’s government in 1996 and the Supreme Court had upheld his decision. He said an accountability commission constituted by him had found corruption of $1.5 billion by Ms Bhutto. Evidence of corruption of Nawaz Sharif was also collected but Saifur Rehman destroyed evidence against him. [1] Former President of Pakistan [uncle/father and father in law of many who are sitting with those members of the government of Musharraf/PML-Q who were earlier with PPP and PML-N whom Mr Leghari is condemning by saying them corrupt half of [PML-Q Cabinet have cases of corruption and loan default on 12 Oct 1999] Tumandar Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari [as per news and articles] was involved in several nastiest scandal in the history of Pakistan. So it seems that whoever who is supporting the present regimes’ wrong policies which are detrimental for the Federation of Pakistan are one way or another were and are part of the permanent establishment of Pakistan and used by the same and even they were saved when in trouble by the same establishment and Lagharis are one of those. As per the dark pages of dark history of Pakistan. During the so-called Lost decade of 90s as per Former Governor of State Bank of Pakistan Dr. Ishrat Hussain and often repeated by Mr. Musharraf. Following event is also from the lost decade but no action was taken. PRESIDENT LEGHARI’S LAND SALES: The controversy over the sale of a 531-acre farm in Darkhwast Jamal Khan owned by President Leghari and his family to six people from Karachi alleged to be fronting for jailed banker Yunus Habib, gave a new and dramatic twist to the Mehran gate scandal. The president’s integrity and his image, as an honest politician, came under question when Nawaz Sharif alleged that Farooq Leghari was involved in the Mehran Bank scandal. Releasing photocopies of bank drafts worth 17 million rupees deposited in Mr. Leghari’s account in Mehran Bank, Sharif charged that the money was a pay off by Yunus Habib in return for Leghari’s bailing out Mehran bank.[Newsline June 1994] On June 4, 1994, President Leghari conceded that the documents produced by the opposition were related to the sale of a farm that had been owned by him and several of his family members. He defended the deal, saying that there was nothing illegal about it. After much delay, the government set up two judicial commissions to enquire into the Mehran Bank affair and the 140 million rupees paid to the ISI by Yunus Habib in 1990 while he was provincial chief of Habib Bank. President Leghari told the Newsline, Karachi: “I did ask Mr. Yunus Habib to see if he could arrange for any buyers for the land … But I didn’t know those six people (who eventually bought the land). I am not aware of whether they were fronting for Mr. Yunus Habib or if the land was actually bought by Mr. Yunus Habib and his family…. As a seller, my only interest was to make sure that I got the price of the land.” President Leghari, however, admitted, that he was approached by Yunus Habib in April, 1993, when he was Finance Minister in the interim government (April/May 1993) to save Mehran Bank from collapsing. Mr. Leghari referred Yunus Habib’s request to the State Bank, but before getting any reply, the interim government was dissolved and Mr. Sartaj Aziz, who became the Finance Minister in the revived government of Nawaz Sharif in April, 1993, ordered the relief given to the Mehran Bank. “The allegation of my having helped Yunus Habib and saved Mehran Bank is false. It was done by Mr. Sartaj Aziz and Mr. Nawaz Sharif. But I have the moral courage to say that yes, I also wanted to do the same and if I had a longer stay as finance minister I would have done the same.”[Newsline June 1994] On Dec. 14, 1995 Younus Habib was awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 36.7 million in a fraud case by the Special Court for Offenses in Banks in Sindh.[Dawn 15.12.1995] However, two years after the appointment, the judicial commission did not complete its enquiry into the Mehran Bank scam. The Mehran Bank scam exemplifies the increasingly corrupt political culture that has taken root in this country. And Mehrangate is just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of banking and financial scams involving politicians that have yet to surface. It seems that all politicians — whether they belong to the ruling coalition or the opposition — are part of this corrupt political culture. The charges and counter-charges made by both seem to have only one aim: to cover-up their own crimes. [Newsline, June 1994] In July 1994 a commission, comprising five judges, was formed to investigate the Mehran Bank scandal. It took eight months to complete its inquiry in February 1995 but its report was never published. However, parts of the reports were released on December 8, 1996, according to which the commission exonerated President Leghari from any wrong doing in his so-called benami deal. But the commission did not mention to whom the land was sold by the president for Rs. 15 million and from which account the money was debited to make the payment. The Commission also cleared the former chief minister of the North West Frontier Province, Aftab Sherpao and Senator Anwar Saifullah, who were accused of being the main beneficiaries of the Mehran Bank, of all the allegations. (DAWN 9.12.1996) On May 13, 1997, the Commerce Minister, Ishaq Dar informed the Senate that the report was missing from the Law Ministry. According to Dar, the Mehran Bank scandal cost a total of Rs. 9.92 billion to the national exchequer. During the Mehrangate investigations of 1993 which led up to the Supreme Court case, Younas Habib (YH) of HBL/MBL, as per his statement filed in court (recorded in Karachi under section 161 Cr.P.C), disclosed that the following political and other pay-offs were made between 1991 and 1994: Sardar Farooq Leghari 12/12/93 (payment set/off) Rs 30 million – 6/1/94 Rs 2.0856 million – 19/3/94 Rs 1.92 million.” Farooq Leghari PO Issued 1,50,00,000. Another 1,50,00,000 paid through Bank. {2} For further graphic details see the notes and references. Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, former president of Pakistan. and his son Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari were elected from NA-172 and NA-173, and Sardar Farooq’s first cousin, Sardar Mohammad Jaffar Khan Leghari, won elections from NA-174 under the banner of the National Alliance. Meena Ehsan Leghari, wife of Sardar Jaffar, and Ayla Malik, niece of Sardar Farooq Leghari, have been accommodated on women reserved seats. Whereas, Sumaira Malik, sister of Ayla Malik, has won elections from NA-69 from the platform of National alliance. The wife of Farooq Leghari belongs to the family of Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, who is also a member of National Assembly and federal minister for water and power. Sikandar Sherpao, son of Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, is member of the NWFP assembly. BETWEEN 1996 TO 1999: It is widely believed that when Nawaz Sharif met with President Farooq Laghari in the third week of December, a deal was struck by which Nawaz agreed to continue the process of turning Pakistan’s political system into “guided democracy’ which the interim government was about to initiate and supreme court judgments were about to facilitate. In return, Nawaz was promised the removal of barriers to his comeback and modification of the accountability process in a way that adversely affected only his opponent Benazir Bhutto’s People’s Party. Farooq Laghari dismissed Benazir to let Nawaz Sharif come back into power. Short of imposing martial law, this was the only course available. But simply letting one “corrupt and irresponsible” political leader to be replaced by another of the kind and leaving the things as they are did not make any sense at all. There had to be a sweetener in the deal for the establishment. The agreement to impose a supra-cabinet, military-dominated body (now called the Council for National Defense and Security) to oversee the day-to-day running of the government, and the continuation of Article 58 (b) 2 and other unsavory elements of the Eighth Amendment, must have been reached before Farooq Laghari announced the overthrow of Benazir Bhutto and the dissolution of the parliament. It is hard to believe that Farooq Laghari simply dragged the military into joining the CNDS, prompting General Jehangir Karamat to say that the parliament would be free to dispense with it. Regardless of whether and when Nawaz Sharif struck a deal with the establishment, it is clear that the context in which Nawaz Sharif is stepping into Prime Minister’s House has all the earmarks of guided democracy, the contours of which have been clearly drawn by the interim government. Like it or not, this is the mother of all constraints under which Nawaz Sharif is expected to function. Farooq Laghari’s proclamation laid primary emphasis on the extra-judicial killings in Karachi and the Supreme Court accepted that as a valid basis for the dismissal of the Benazir government, even though the President’s counsel failed to produce any evidence in support of the allegation. It goes without saying that human rights violations of all kinds must be stopped and the culprits must be punished. However, in this particular case, the “extra-judicial” killings are just being used most brazenly to victimize one side. Farooq Laghari’s human rights concern, and its validation by the Supreme Court, can open a Pandora’s box for Nawaz Sharif unless he chooses to become a henchman for Laghari’s operation vendetta. As anyone not suffering from amnesia knows, the Operation Clean Up was started during Nawaz Sharif’s first term and the army was involved in it. With the army’s withdrawal in late 1994, the messy situation in Karachi was off-loaded on Benazir Bhutto. To the extent the federal government was involved in it, President Laghari cannot absolve himself of the responsibility for the violations. This is, perhaps, the most cynical ploy from Laghari’s arsenal of artifacts. Nawaz Sharif need not buy into it. Notes and References. Leghari suggests national govt for fair polls By Our Reporter [1] October 20, 2007 Saturday Shawwal 7, 1428 http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/20/nat35.htm KARACHI: Nadir supports dams on Indus By Our Reporter {2} http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/30/local2.htm ISLAMIC PAKISTAN:ILLUSIONS & REALITY by Abdus Sattar Ghazali {3} http://www.ghazali.net/book1/contents.htm http://ghazali.net/book1/reference10.htm3 We never learn from history By Ardeshir Cowasjee {4} 21 July 2002 Sunday 10 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1423 http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20020721.htm We never learn from history-2 By Ardeshir Cowasjee {4} 04 August 2002 Sunday 24 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1423 http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20020804.htm We never learn from history-3 By Ardeshir Cowasjee {4} 11 August 2002 Sunday 01 Jamadi-us-Saani 1423 http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20020811.htm We never learn from history-4 By Ardeshir Cowasjee {4} 18 August 2002 Sunday 08 Jamadi-us-Saani 1423 http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20020818.htm We never learn from history-5 By Ardeshir Cowasjee {4} 25 August 2002 Sunday 15 Jamadi-us-Saani 1423 http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20020825.htm Nawaz Sharif’s Opportunities and Challenges Feroz Ahmed {5} http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/sangat/sang0397.htm Reply - December 13, 2009 Aamir Mughal SARDAR FAROOQ LAGHARI & CORRUPTION CASES PART 2 “Farooq Leghari, his son Awais Leghari and other members of their family, should be held accountable for their various corruption scandals such as cooperatives and PTCL scandals” but it should be done alongside the holding accountable PPP and PML-N and other NRO beneficiaries and not instead of it, as seems to be the plan. Farooq Leghari’s corruption did begin when PPP was in power. Also, how is PPP going to deal with the fact that Zardari’s henchman Malik Riaz of Bahria Town is a business partner of Farooq Leghari? Senator Jamal Leghari, the elder son of Farooq, who is no less corrupt. That Farooq and Awais are guilty of corruption, there is no doubt about that either. It is a fact that Farooq Leghari (and Jamal and Awais jointly) had less than 1250 acres of land when he became president but today Farooq Leghari alone has acquired more than12,500 acres of agricultural land (I have no clue about the acquisitions by Awais and Jamal Leghari but they have been on a land buying spree as well). And this does not include other property and bank accounts. His cousin Sumaira Malik of the “Cat House” fame has spent twice that. PML-Q removes chief of women’s wing by Our Staff Reporter [ Former federal minister Sumera Malik has been removed from the post of the chief of the women’s wing of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q. She had attended a dinner at the presidency and again met President Zardari on Saturday – http://www.dawn.com/2008/11/03/top18.htm Her sister Ayla Malik’s (these days with DunyaTV) husband (now ex) Sardar Rind has bought another 12,500 acres in the same area as Farooq Leghari. Farooq’s cousins of course are not only among NRO beneficiaries but also big loan defaulters (but sitting pretty in the National Assembly or as Nazims) ================= “QUOTE” Prime Minister Jamali Orders a Probe on Secret Report – How a Present Minister Leaked a $25 Million Phone Tender to His Party SOUTH ASIA TRIBUNE – By Rauf Klasra – August 3-9, 2003 ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali has directed the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to probe the unprecedented leakage of international tenders worth $25 million prior to opening of bids for the expansion program of government-owned mobile telephone service, U-Fone. Young Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications, Awais Leghari, son of former President Sardar Farooq Leghari, who had appointed the Board of Directors of both PTCL and U-Fone, is being accused of giving favors to some of his favorite companies. Pakistan Telecommunication Limited commonly referred to as U-Fone is a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of PTCL. It came into existence in 2001. Government owns 88 percent shares in PTCL. It is a GSM-based technological enterprise with almost 500,000 customers nationwide. Mobilink is its main competitor whereas other competitors,Paktel and Instaphone, are based on Analog system. MS Nortel of Canada provided the equipment to U-Fone under an agreement. It was a turn key project agreement. The said Canadian company provided the entire network by virtue of which U-Fone is operating in the market today. U-Fone has to increase its network in Pakistan. Although, a smart and young minister from Dera Ghazi Khan, Awais Leghari denies these charges but secret reports sent to the Prime Minister have clearly indicated his name in the scam. According to an official estimate, people involved in the leakage of the tenders and bids to a particular firm could pocket at least $4m to $5m out of the deal which has become a cause of serious political tussle between theJamali Government and former President Farooq Leghari. General Pervez Musharraf is said to be displeased with these corruption reports about Leghari and a clear hint has been given to the elder Leghari by PM Jamali that Awais could be out of the Government in a cabinet reshuffle likely next week. But, Farooq Leghari has threatened to walk out of the Government alliance if his son was replaced on charges of corruption. A highly classified report sent to the Prime Minister has advised the Prime Minister to immediately intervene in the first financial scam of his government, otherwise, tax payers would suffer a massive loss of $10m on purchase of equipment from a particular firm at much higher prices for the expansion of mobile service in other cities of Pakistan. This classified report sent to Prime Minister has been prepared by a ministerial level person in the Jamali cabinet who is not ready to disclose his name. This report clearly establishes the link of Awais Leghari with those who were leaking the tenders to a particular international company. The PM has also been asked in the secret report to get the copy of the agreement of $25 million regarding expansion of official mobile service from U-Fone and pass it on to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to maintain transparency. When contacted by South Asia Tribune, Spokesman PTCL Sultan Hassan said that he had no information about any such inquiry or other details of the developments as claimed to be part of a report to the PM by some concerned government quarters. Chief Executive of U-Fone, Arshad Khan strongly defended the performance of his company saying it had done a good job in the past and would continue to perform its duties in the greater interests of the entire nation. He said only people with vested interest were spreading such rumors to malign the company. He also lectured this scribe on the benefits of reporters staying away from such issues as this was against the interests of the country. Mr Khan who actually helped launching of U-Fone mobile service and making it a success story, said the company had been doing everything in a transparent way and concerned quarters had already been conveyed our view point on the issues involved. On the question of an inquiry, he said he could not give the details and those should be asked from whoever had either ordered the inquiry or started the probe. He repeatedly made it clear that the company was being run on professional and commercial lines. Meanwhile sources in the Prime Minister Secretariat confirmed that Mr. Jamali had ordered Director General IB to inquire into the matter and submit him the report after it was brought to his notice that tenders were leaked before the formal opening of the bids. According to available copy of the report submitted to the Prime Minister regarding irregularities in the U-Fone expansion program, tenders were invited for the “new cities expansion” category. It was planned to expand the network of U-Fone service. In order to procure equipment for these new cities under the third phase, five new vendors were pre-qualified by the board and management of the mobile service company for the bidding process. They were Alcatel, Ericsson,Huawei Technologies, Motorola and Siemens. PM was informed that tenders were invited and subsequently bids were opened on March 26, 2003. But prior to opening of bids, papers of one of the bids were found to have been opened. This matter was agitated. PM was informed that the Board of Directors decided not to go for the re-tendering process as it would consume time and official phone service might lose the prospective market/potential customers. The Board, it may be added, has several members appointed by the young minister under probe. Moreover, it was told that it would also not be in the financial interests of the U-Fone company since its rival,Mobilink, was already ahead of the U-Fone, as it was actively involved in the process of commissioning the equipment for its proposed expansion. U-Fone probably will be in a position to do so in six to nine months, PM was told with the apprehension that there were chances that the Government-owned mobile service may lose its market. The PM was also informed that there were doubts about the honesty levels of some of the Directors of U-Fone, since they owed their recent appointment to Minister Awais Leghari. Fears were conveyed to the PM, that these Board members may work even against the interests of the company, if the situation so demanded. The PM was informed that this can be very aptly verified from the record if there is any, as the word in the market was that even the minutes of the meeting of the U-Fone Board were not circulated to some of the Directors. The PM was told that this Board had already decided about the procedure of bidding which was not fair and if the Government did not intervene, U-Fone will suffer an irreparable loss, according to some estimates close to $10-12 million. The PM was told that the negotiations being carried out at the U-Fone Headquarters showed equipment worth $24 to $25 million may be bought for $28 million or more and the extra amount will end up in the safe accounts of many. The report to the PM said the expansion program, commonly referred to as the Third phase of U-Fone, can be categorized under two schemes: (a) the existing network expansion category (b) The New Cities expansion category. Since both these categories are included under the same expansion program, therefore, this concern, amongst others, has caused reason to prepare the report. The Existing Network Expansion Category: The inexorable logic from the afore stated will be that the cities ofPakistan in which U-Fone is already operational will inevitably be equipped with the network of MS Nortel. So, theneighboring cities of such areas where the services of mobile phone is already available have to be provided with the equipment of Nortel. It is logical and will of-course be cheaper too. These cities have been included in the further expansion program now being termed as the third phase. The Board of Directors of U-Fone has approved this. The report said it might be worth mentioning that the Federal Minister for IT&T Awais Leghari recently appointed the majority of the Directors of the Board of both PTCL and U-Fone. With these considerations, one is poised with an important issue and that is of the price i.e. will U-Fone pay the same price which it paid at the time of its start on, or will it be any other price. The report says that Nortel will and should remain as the solve vendor for the proposed expansion under this category. The New Cities Expansion Category: The report said the government is trying to provide network in order to enable the U-Fone mobile telephone services to the people in other cities in addition to major ones. Therefore, in order to procure equipment for these new proposed cities under the third phase, five new vendors were pre-qualified by the Board and the management of U-Fone for the bidding process namely Alcatel, Ericsson, HuaweiTechnologies, Motorola and Siemens. But, the bids were leaked. The report has now suggested that the government may immediately constitute a committee to ensure something like this does not happen again. At the same time, we must also ensure that U-Fone does not lose its prospective customers either. But in any event, before the conclusion of the agreement, the NAB should approve it. We may have recourse to any of the following: (i)We can either recall for the entire re-tendering. This might cause a further delay of at least four to six months but as it is our main competitor Mobilink has won the race. It is opening its market to its customers in a couple of weeks. (ii) Since the vendors will remain the same, we may alternatively ask all the remaining four to compete with each other in the presence of a committee especially constituted for the purpose. If this proposal is accepted, then the entire exercise should be over within a week and U-Fone may invariably save millions of US$ with our small efforts. Moreover, Nortel will have to match the same price and it will. (iii) it must be categorically borne in mind that there is no technological difference in the equipment of all these vendors. At least U-Fone’s management should not have any problem since they were the ones who pre-qualified all these categories after technical evaluation. (iv) by this exercise, an important factor will also be elucidated. Nortel who has been enjoying monopoly status so far in supplying equipment and has been charging their desirable charges in connivance with PTCL management, this would have to be settled scores with us at our terms. This exercise will also unveil the magnitude of the corruption in which our management has been actively involved. “UNQUOTE” Reply - December 13, 2009 Aamir Mughal SARDAR FAROOQ LAGHARI & CORRUPTION CASES PART 1 As per Daily Dawn dated 20 Oct 2007 Former President of Pakistan Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari [a former central member of PPP] while addressing a press conference at Leghari House on Raiwind Road on Friday said, Mr Leghari opposed the National Reconciliation Ordinance. He said he had proposed national reconciliation a month ago but amnesty for corruption looked strange. He said amnesty could not be justified if army officers, bureaucrats and politicians who had plundered national resources did not return the money stolen by them. He said the ordinance had been challenged in the Supreme Court and its fate depended on its verdict. He said corruption was one of the reasons for which he had dismissed the Ms Bhutto’s government in 1996 and the Supreme Court had upheld his decision. He said an accountability commission constituted by him had found corruption of $1.5 billion by Ms Bhutto. Evidence of corruption of Nawaz Sharif was also collected but Saifur Rehman destroyed evidence against him. [1] Former President of Pakistan [uncle/father and father in law of many who are sitting with those members of the government of Musharraf/PML-Q who were earlier with PPP and PML-N whom Mr Leghari is condemning by saying them corrupt half of [PML-Q Cabinet have cases of corruption and loan default on 12 Oct 1999] Tumandar Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari [as per news and articles] was involved in several nastiest scandal in the history of Pakistan. So it seems that whoever who is supporting the present regimes’ wrong policies which are detrimental for the Federation of Pakistan are one way or another were and are part of the permanent establishment of Pakistan and used by the same and even they were saved when in trouble by the same establishment and Lagharis are one of those. As per the dark pages of dark history of Pakistan. During the so-called Lost decade of 90s as per Former Governor of State Bank of Pakistan Dr. Ishrat Hussain and often repeated by Mr. Musharraf. Following event is also from the lost decade but no action was taken. PRESIDENT LEGHARI’S LAND SALES: The controversy over the sale of a 531-acre farm in Darkhwast Jamal Khan owned by President Leghari and his family to six people from Karachi alleged to be fronting for jailed banker Yunus Habib, gave a new and dramatic twist to the Mehran gate scandal. The president’s integrity and his image, as an honest politician, came under question when Nawaz Sharif alleged that Farooq Leghari was involved in the Mehran Bank scandal. Releasing photocopies of bank drafts worth 17 million rupees deposited in Mr. Leghari’s account in Mehran Bank, Sharif charged that the money was a pay off by Yunus Habib in return for Leghari’s bailing out Mehran bank.[Newsline June 1994] On June 4, 1994, President Leghari conceded that the documents produced by the opposition were related to the sale of a farm that had been owned by him and several of his family members. He defended the deal, saying that there was nothing illegal about it. After much delay, the government set up two judicial commissions to enquire into the Mehran Bank affair and the 140 million rupees paid to the ISI by Yunus Habib in 1990 while he was provincial chief of Habib Bank. President Leghari told the Newsline, Karachi: “I did ask Mr. Yunus Habib to see if he could arrange for any buyers for the land … But I didn’t know those six people (who eventually bought the land). I am not aware of whether they were fronting for Mr. Yunus Habib or if the land was actually bought by Mr. Yunus Habib and his family…. As a seller, my only interest was to make sure that I got the price of the land.” President Leghari, however, admitted, that he was approached by Yunus Habib in April, 1993, when he was Finance Minister in the interim government (April/May 1993) to save Mehran Bank from collapsing. Mr. Leghari referred Yunus Habib’s request to the State Bank, but before getting any reply, the interim government was dissolved and Mr. Sartaj Aziz, who became the Finance Minister in the revived government of Nawaz Sharif in April, 1993, ordered the relief given to the Mehran Bank. “The allegation of my having helped Yunus Habib and saved Mehran Bank is false. It was done by Mr. Sartaj Aziz and Mr. Nawaz Sharif. But I have the moral courage to say that yes, I also wanted to do the same and if I had a longer stay as finance minister I would have done the same.”[Newsline June 1994] On Dec. 14, 1995 Younus Habib was awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 36.7 million in a fraud case by the Special Court for Offenses in Banks in Sindh.[Dawn 15.12.1995] However, two years after the appointment, the judicial commission did not complete its enquiry into the Mehran Bank scam. The Mehran Bank scam exemplifies the increasingly corrupt political culture that has taken root in this country. And Mehrangate is just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of banking and financial scams involving politicians that have yet to surface. It seems that all politicians — whether they belong to the ruling coalition or the opposition — are part of this corrupt political culture. The charges and counter-charges made by both seem to have only one aim: to cover-up their own crimes. [Newsline, June 1994] In July 1994 a commission, comprising five judges, was formed to investigate the Mehran Bank scandal. It took eight months to complete its inquiry in February 1995 but its report was never published. However, parts of the reports were released on December 8, 1996, according to which the commission exonerated President Leghari from any wrong doing in his so-called benami deal. But the commission did not mention to whom the land was sold by the president for Rs. 15 million and from which account the money was debited to make the payment. The Commission also cleared the former chief minister of the North West Frontier Province, Aftab Sherpao and Senator Anwar Saifullah, who were accused of being the main beneficiaries of the Mehran Bank, of all the allegations. (DAWN 9.12.1996) On May 13, 1997, the Commerce Minister, Ishaq Dar informed the Senate that the report was missing from the Law Ministry. According to Dar, the Mehran Bank scandal cost a total of Rs. 9.92 billion to the national exchequer. During the Mehrangate investigations of 1993 which led up to the Supreme Court case, Younas Habib (YH) of HBL/MBL, as per his statement filed in court (recorded in Karachi under section 161 Cr.P.C), disclosed that the following political and other pay-offs were made between 1991 and 1994: Sardar Farooq Leghari 12/12/93 (payment set/off) Rs 30 million – 6/1/94 Rs 2.0856 million – 19/3/94 Rs 1.92 million.” Farooq Leghari PO Issued 1,50,00,000. Another 1,50,00,000 paid through Bank. {2} For further graphic details see the notes and references. Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, former president of Pakistan. and his son Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari were elected from NA-172 and NA-173, and Sardar Farooq’s first cousin, Sardar Mohammad Jaffar Khan Leghari, won elections from NA-174 under the banner of the National Alliance. Meena Ehsan Leghari, wife of Sardar Jaffar, and Ayla Malik, niece of Sardar Farooq Leghari, have been accommodated on women reserved seats. Whereas, Sumaira Malik, sister of Ayla Malik, has won elections from NA-69 from the platform of National alliance. The wife of Farooq Leghari belongs to the family of Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, who is also a member of National Assembly and federal minister for water and power. Sikandar Sherpao, son of Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, is member of the NWFP assembly. BETWEEN 1996 TO 1999: It is widely believed that when Nawaz Sharif met with President Farooq Laghari in the third week of December, a deal was struck by which Nawaz agreed to continue the process of turning Pakistan’s political system into “guided democracy’ which the interim government was about to initiate and supreme court judgments were about to facilitate. In return, Nawaz was promised the removal of barriers to his comeback and modification of the accountability process in a way that adversely affected only his opponent Benazir Bhutto’s People’s Party. Farooq Laghari dismissed Benazir to let Nawaz Sharif come back into power. Short of imposing martial law, this was the only course available. But simply letting one “corrupt and irresponsible” political leader to be replaced by another of the kind and leaving the things as they are did not make any sense at all. There had to be a sweetener in the deal for the establishment. The agreement to impose a supra-cabinet, military-dominated body (now called the Council for National Defense and Security) to oversee the day-to-day running of the government, and the continuation of Article 58 (b) 2 and other unsavory elements of the Eighth Amendment, must have been reached before Farooq Laghari announced the overthrow of Benazir Bhutto and the dissolution of the parliament. It is hard to believe that Farooq Laghari simply dragged the military into joining the CNDS, prompting General Jehangir Karamat to say that the parliament would be free to dispense with it. Regardless of whether and when Nawaz Sharif struck a deal with the establishment, it is clear that the context in which Nawaz Sharif is stepping into Prime Minister’s House has all the earmarks of guided democracy, the contours of which have been clearly drawn by the interim government. Like it or not, this is the mother of all constraints under which Nawaz Sharif is expected to function. Farooq Laghari’s proclamation laid primary emphasis on the extra-judicial killings in Karachi and the Supreme Court accepted that as a valid basis for the dismissal of the Benazir government, even though the President’s counsel failed to produce any evidence in support of the allegation. It goes without saying that human rights violations of all kinds must be stopped and the culprits must be punished. However, in this particular case, the “extra-judicial” killings are just being used most brazenly to victimize one side. Farooq Laghari’s human rights concern, and its validation by the Supreme Court, can open a Pandora’s box for Nawaz Sharif unless he chooses to become a henchman for Laghari’s operation vendetta. As anyone not suffering from amnesia knows, the Operation Clean Up was started during Nawaz Sharif’s first term and the army was involved in it. With the army’s withdrawal in late 1994, the messy situation in Karachi was off-loaded on Benazir Bhutto. To the extent the federal government was involved in it, President Laghari cannot absolve himself of the responsibility for the violations. This is, perhaps, the most cynical ploy from Laghari’s arsenal of artifacts. Nawaz Sharif need not buy into it. Notes and References. Tummandar Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Laghari http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2008/11/tummandar-sardar-farooq-ahmed-khan.html Reply - December 13, 2009 Aamir Mughal Secret Behind NAB AND CORRUPTION CASES AGAINST BENAZIR BHUTTO AND ASIF ALI ZARDARI: REFERENCES: Ghaddar Kaun? Author: Sohail Warraich – Nawaz Sharif opens up to Sohail Warraich in a big way READ THE BOOK sohail waraich – ghaddar kaun http://www.scribd.com/doc/2411542/sohail-waraich-ghaddar-kaun http://www.dukandar.com/ghaddarkaun.html Reply - December 13, 2009 Aamir Mughal ON SENATOR SAIFUR REHMAN FROM SHAHEEN SEHBAI MAGAZINE. Cases Gather Dust in Courts as Zardari Rots in Jail By Aijaz Mahar ISLAMABAD: A high-powered four-member lawyers team headed by Farooq Naik and comprising Abu Bakar Zardari, Arshad Tabraiz and Qurban Ali Khoso, represents Asif Zardari in the numerous cases against him in various courts. The lawyers are not shy to declare that most of these cases have no substance and evidence but are politically motivated. Senior lawyer Farooq Naik said that Asif Ali Zardari has been imprisoned in Pakistan and seventh consecutive year has been started now to him in jail. Since the government of his spouse, Benazir Bhutto former Prime Minister of Pakistan, was dissolved by Presidential fiat on 5th November, l996. He was arrested on November 5, 1996 from the Governor house Lahore and since than facing the solitary confinement in different jails and presently he is kept in a small room in the government’s hospital known as PIMS at Islamabad declared as sub jail. He is no doubt an ailing person but his morale is very high as he believes in democracy, social justice, equality before law and supremacy of God who tests his people by putting them under various pressures as after all life and death is Ordained by God Almighty claimed Mr. Naik. While telling the history of the cases registered against Asif Ali Zardari, Farooq said it is the painful story spread over the years because past three successive governments of Farooq Leghari, Nawaz Sharif and Musharraf has registered 16 cases in Sindh and Punjab provinces. Out of the 16 cases, in one case, Pakistan Steel Mills reference, he was convicted. He was acquitted the case known as Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) case, while out of remaining 14 under trial cases he got bail in 13 cases and is now in jail because of the BMW car case. There is at present eight references under National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance 1999 pending against Zardari at Rawalpindi and Attock Fort, a military garrison, he observed. A legal expert said if the list of corruption charges against General Musharraf was prepared, it would be far more substantial and larger than the cases against Asif Zardari as in none of these cases conclusive evidence has been produced to convict him. That is why the Government has dragged these cases on to keep Asif in jail. Here is a brief list of the charges: 1. Asset Reference No.l4/2001: This Reference is pending since July 1998. Presently it is being tried in the Accountability Court at Attock Fort since April 2001 after Zardari was shifted from Karachi to Rawalpindi/Islamabad by NAB authorities. The prosecution till date has only examined 33 witnesses out of 62 witnesses. 2. Polo Ground Reference No. 6/2000: This Reference was adjourned sine die by the Accountability Court in Attock Fort on l7th March 2001. No date of hearing has been fixed since then. 3. Ursus Tractor Reference No. 25 /2000: This Reference, which was filed in July 1998, has not proceeded at all since the day it was transferred from the Accountability Court in Rawalpindi to the Accountability Court in Attock Fort in November 2001. 4. Cotecna Reference No.35/2001: This Reference, which was filed in July 1998, has also not proceeded since 12th June 2001 when it was adjourned sine die by the Accountability Court in Rawalpindi on the request of the Prosecutor General NAB. 5. SGS Reference No. 41/2000: This Reference was remanded to Accountability Court Rawalpindi, by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 5th Apri1 2001 after setting aside the judgment of the Accountability Court dated l4th April 1999 convicting Zardari along with his spouse Benazir Bhutto for retrial. Thereafter the prosecution evidence has not commenced till date. Application of Asif Zardari that he has served his sentence and that he cannot be tried again on the principle of “double jeopardy” has not been heard and decided by the court despite the fact it was filed as far back as l4th September 2002 under Article 13 of the Constitution of Pakistan which lays down that no one can be tried or convicted twice for the same offence”. 6. A.R.Y. Gold Reference No.23/2000: This Reference, which was filed in July 1998, is pending before the Accountability Court in Rawalpindi since its transfer in the beginning of year 2000. The Prosecution has not examined any witness since its transfer to the present court. 7. BMW Care Reference 59/2002: In this Reference, warrants of arrest of Zardari were issued in the evening of l5th December 2001 when he was bailed out in the last of the cases viz. Narcotics Case on 15/17 December, 2001. Issuance of Warrant and arrest of Asif in this Reference was only to prevent his release. The allegation is that he imported the car in 1995 and miss-declared the value thereof and evaded payment of duties and charges. First of all the car is not registered in the name of Asif. It has changed ownership thrice and there is no document linking Zardari with the car. Secondly under Section 32 of Customs Act 1969, if there is a declaration by any importer, short levied duty cannot be recovered after three years. In this case car was imported in 1995 and as such the recovery of dues, if any, is barred by limitation. As far as the trial of the case before the Accountability Court is concerned, the NAB filed the Reference in May 2002. After the court indicted Zardari, the prosecutor examined one witness, who had been instrumental in importing the car from UK to Pakistan. The said witness has stated that one Ghani Ansari and his brother Rashid Ansari imported the said car through him and that Zardari had nothing to do with it. Asif has filed application for the acquittal, which is pending. 8. Steel Mills Reference No. 27/2000. In this Reference, which was filed in June 1998, the Accountability Court Rawalpindi convicted Zardari on 12 September 2002 after being put under extreme pressure by the government. The judgment was announced at 8.50 p.m. which is against practice and law as the court rise for the day at 4.00 p.m. Surprisingly at 9.00 p.m. on the same day the government announced on national media about the conviction in order to malign and defame Zardari. The conviction order is without substance as there is not an iota of evidence involving Asif in the commission of the alleged offence. The allegation in the said case was that Mr. Sajjad Hussain, former Chairman Pakistan Steel Mills in order to gain favor of Asif Ali Zardari for confirmation of his service arranged a sum of rupees 30 million from mercury corporation which had a contract with the Pakistan Steel Mills by giving the said Corporation and paid the same to Asif Ali Zardari. Sajjad Hussain unfortunately died before he gave evidence in the court. However, during his life time while he was unlawfully confined by the Nawaz regime to extract forcible confession from him, his wife Mrs. Amna Hussain had filed constitution petition in the Sindh High Court at Karachi contending that her husband is suffering from various deceases including acute depression and his being forced by the Nawaz regime specially senator Saif ur Rehman the then Chairman Ehtesab Bureau to make statement Asif Ali Zardari. The irony of the case is that National Accountability Bureau recovered the said sum of Rs. 30 million from Mercury Corporation, as prior to the announcement of judgment convicting Asif Ali Zardari but the said fact was not revealed to the Accountability Court, which convicted the Asif Ali Zardari. The judgment is nothing but travesty of justice said the lawyer. Six Criminal Cases at Karachi (Sindh): The said cases are not being proceeding since February 2001 when Zardari was sent on internal exile from his home town Karachi within the province of Sindh to Rawalpindi/Islamabad within the province of Punjab about 1000 miles away. These cases included four murder cases registered against him told Farooq Naik. The Government is responsible for the delay, as Asif is confined in Rawalpindi, is not being produced before these courts at Karachi despite the fact that orders for his production are regularly being issued for every date of hearing by the concerned courts. Murder cases are titled as Murtaza Bhutto, Justice Nizam, Alam Baloch and Sajjad Hussain. One case is registered against Asif allegedly said that he has shifted households to Surrey Mahal London form Bilawal House Karachi. Two cases have been registered against Asif alleging that he attempted to commit suicide in jail while he was under investigation. Narcotics Case No. 436 1998: This case is pending in session court Lahore and Asif Zardari is being taken to Lahore for appearance before the Sessions Judge in violation to the order of the Supreme Court but however, he is not being produced before the Court at Karachi under the cover of order of Supreme Court. In the said case since 1998 till date out of 23 witnesses only five-prosecution witness have been examined. The evidence of all these witnesses which has come on record explicitly show that a false case at the behest of Saif Ur Rehman former Chairman of Accountability Bureau during the period of Mian Nawaz Sharif, the then prime minister, was registered against Zardari, his lawyer observed. He said it is obvious that the government with malafide intentions and ulterior motives in a systematic and planned manner wants to keep Asif in prison for the rest of his life claimed Naik. Asif Zardari is suffering from various life threatening ailments including Spondialitis. Zardari was admitted in Dr. Ziauddin University Hospital, Clifton Karachi, which had the requisite facilities including Hydrotherapy under the order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, dated 11th August 2000. However, NAB authorities without the permission of the Supreme Court shifted him from Karachi the Rawalpindi/Islamabad unilaterally and arbitrarily in February 2001 and confined him in a small room, the windows of which remain closed all the time and black painted, in the hospital known as Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Islamabad. All the facilities granted to Asif Ali Zardari in the hospital including Television and meeting with his counsel and family members (twice a week) are under the order of various courts. It can be said without fear of contradiction that government never of its own granted or gave any facility to Asif, said Naik. The officials on duty have strict instructions not to allow any facility to him over and above granted by the courts. A qualified physician/doctor does not accompany Asif in the ambulance which is old and rickety, for appearance before various courts said Farooq. The government till date has flouted the order of the court by not providing with the facility of walk as ordered by the court under the advise of the doctors and which is having serious adverse effect on his health, claimed Naik. The hydrotherapy treatment is not being carried out, as the said facility is not available in PIMS. The said facility is of utmost necessity as the specialists who examined him, have recommended the same. http://www.satribune.com/archives/jan20_26_03/P1_asiflcases.htm Reply - December 13, 2009 Aamir Mughal ON ASIF ZARDARI’S TRIAL FROM SHAHEEN SEHBAI’S MAGAZINE. Military Regime Snubbed as Asif Zardari is Acquitted by Lahore High Court By M T Butt ISLAMABAD, Sept 9: Jailed PPP leader and Benazir Bhutto’s husband Asif Ali Zardari scored another significant victory on Sept 9 when the Lahore High Court acquitted him in a corruption case, setting aside the 7-year jail term given to him by a special court. http://www.satribune.com/archives/sept04/P1_asif.htm The court victory in the Pakistan Steel Mills case came days after a sitting Prime Minister, Choudhry Shujaat Hussain, who later resigned to make way for Shaukat Aziz, declared the drug smuggling case against Zardari as fake. Zardari has now been acquitted or bailed out in 8 cases while he is still being detained under the BMW Import Duty case in which his bail application is pending with the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The record of acquittals and bails has confounded the military rulers who keep on adding new cases against the PPP leader as he is freed in old ones, despite the immense pressure used by the Army on the judiciary. If the Supreme Court grants him bail in the BMW case, Zardari would have to be released by the military regime, unless some new case is registered. But since he is in jail since November 1996, there is hardly any room left for accusing him of any other criminal offence. Exiled PPP leader Benazir Bhutto hailed the judgment of the Lahore High Court terming it the “triumph of justice”. She said the verdict shows that those who show patience and persevere are ultimately rewarded, adding that the decision “demonstrates that despite the clouds of darkness, the light of conscience prevails in our land.” The decision by two Judges of the Lahore High Court was expected several months back. Suddenly the bench constituted of Judges Maulvi Anwar ul Haq and Justice Aslam was broken up. After a long, legal struggle and applications before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Bench hearing the appeal was allowed to announce its landmark judgment. The Bench declared that Mr. Zardari should be immediately set free if he was not needed in any other matter. The first time Mr. Zardari was ordered free by a court was in 1998. But another case was filed to stop him from his release. Mr. Zardari was arrested on the night of November 4, 1996 initially under one preventive detention law known as the Lahore Maintenance of Public Order and then under a second Karachi Maintenance of Public Order. He was acquitted in two attempted suicide cases, one murder case (Sajjad case), one corruption case known as KESC whereas the conviction in the SGS case was also set aside in 2001. The Steel Mill case is the eighth case in which Mr. Zardari has been granted relief by the judiciary. However, there are still 14 more cases against him. He is on bail in all the cases except the BMW case. The BMW case is so ridiculous it makes a mockery of law and justice in Pakistan. It revolves around import of a second hand car by someone other than Mr. Zardari. The duty on the second hand car was re-evaluated by the regime and a small percentage of disputed deficit was recorded as payable duty. Since December 2001 Mr. Zardari is languishing in prison on the basis of the BMW case, which was initiated by NAB under Gen. Musharraf. Usually cases of disputed duty do not result in any arrest, either of the importer or buyer. But Zardari has been kept in jail shamelessly. The ordeal in the Steel Mills case began in 1996 when Steel Mills Chairman late Sajjad Hussain was arrested by NAB headed by disgraced Senator Saifur Rahman. Mr. Hussain was tortured and tried to commit suicide to avoid a third arrest by the NAB authorities. His wife filed an affidavit before the Sindh High Court documenting the torture and threats to kill meted out to Mr. Hussain if he refused to implicate a “VVIP” meaning Mr. Zardari. Subsequently the Chairman Mr. Hussain was killed amid doubts whether it was a planned murder by the State or the result of random violence, which had plagued the city of Karachi. The LHC Rawalpindi bench set aside the conviction awarded by the Accountability Court on October in dubious circumstances. The judgment was announced at 9 pm at night, after military authorities stopped the judge from giving his verdict during court hours. The prosecution had claimed that a meeting allegedly took place between Asif Zardari and the Steel Mill Chairman on September 14, 1995 between 6.30 pm and 7 pm in the Prime Minister’s house regarding kickbacks. However the prosecution’s case fell apart during examination. A witness deposed that Mr. Zardari was accompanying the Prime Minister to Lahore that day and could not have met Steel Chairman at Islamabad as the prosecution claimed. Reply - December 13, 2009 Aamir Mughal SENATOR SAIFUR REHMAN AND VIOLATION OF SECP RULES! SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN Enforcement Department Redco Textiles Limited Page 1 of 4 Violation of Section 245 [Islamabad] Before Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Executive Director Order In the matter of M/s. Redco Textiles Limited (Under Sub-section (3) of Section 245 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984.) Number and date of notice EMD/Enf-II /278/2003dated April 09, 2004 Date of hearing July 21, 2004 http://www.secp.gov.pk/orders/pdf/July_23_04_Redco.pdf Present Mr. Shahid Farid Authorized Representative Date of Order July 23, 2004 _____________________________________________________________________________ This is a case of violation of the provisions of Section 245 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984 (the “Ordinance”) by M/s. Redco Textiles Limited (the “Company”). 2. The facts leading to this case, briefly stated, are that in terms of the provisions of Section 245 of the Ordinance, the Company was required to prepare and transmit to the members and simultaneously file with the Commission its quarterly accounts for the 1st quarter ended December 31, 2003 by January 31, 2004, whereas the Company failed to file the aforesaid accounts with the Commission within the prescribed time. Consequently, a notice dated April 09, 2004 was served on all the directors including the Chief Executive of the Company calling upon them to show cause as to why penalties as provided under Sub-section (3) of Section 245 read with Section 476 of the Ordinance may not be imposed on them. 3. The aforesaid notice was responded by Mr. Bilal A. Niazi, the Company Secretary, who in his written reply dated April 30, 2004 contended that the Commission SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN Enforcement Department Redco Textiles Limited Page 2 of 4 Violation of Section 245 allowed the Company an extension of time for one month up to February 29, 2004 in holding of its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and filing of its annual accounts for the year ended on September 30, 2003. Accordingly, the delay in holding of AGM and finalization of annual accounts for the aforesaid period resulted in delay in preparation of accounts for the 1st quarter ended on December 31, 2003. 4. In order to give an opportunity of hearing the case was fixed on June 23, 2004 which was adjourned and re-fixed on July 21, 2004. On the date of hearing, Mr. Shahid Farid of M/s. Shahid Farid & Co., Chartered Accountant, appeared before me to argue the case on behalf of the Chief Executive and directors of the Company. Mr. Shahid reiterated almost same arguments as were earlier offered by the Company Secretary in his written reply and requested to drop the proceedings initiated under Section 245 of the Ordinance. He assured that the directors and the Chief Executive of the Company would ensure strict compliance of the provisions of the Ordinance in future. 5. Having considered the written as well as verbal submissions, I am of the opinion that the contentions of the respondents do not carry any merit. Late finalization of the annual accounts is not a justifiable excuse for delaying the circulation and filing of quarterly accounts which is a separate mandatory requirement under Section 245 of the Ordinance. Further, the AGM of the Company was held on February 28, 2004 for which the accounts were required to be circulated to the shareholders on February 07, 2004 i.e. 21 days before the holding of AGM. The accounts are required to be circulated after approval of the Board of Directors which requires a notice period of seven days . As such the said annual accounts should have been ready with the Company by January 31, 2004 and even if the Company had taken a same time period of one month for preparation of these accounts in terms of Section 245 of the Ordinance, the said accounts should have been circulated within one month thereafter, that is, on or about the 1st March 2004. However, these accounts were filed with the Commission on April 29, 2004 i.e. with a delay of 2 months and 29 days as per original requirement and 2 months if the date of SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN Enforcement Department Redco Textiles Limited Page 3 of 4 Violation of Section 245 close of annual accounts is taken as January 31, 2004. The respondents have failed to offer justifiable excuse for such an inordinate delay in filing of the said quarterly accounts. I have also reviewed the track record of the Company with regard to filing of quarterly accounts, which is very disappointing. A perusal of the record reveals that the Company is submitting its quarterly accounts with significant delay since the very inception of this requirement. The record also indicates that the Commission at least at two occasions took a lenient view while adjudicating defaults in submission of quarterly accounts in the past. It appears that the lenient view taken by the Commission has not produced good results rather it made the management careless in compliance of the mandatory provisions of law. It is also pertinent to mention here that the Company has not filed the accounts for the subsequent quarter ended March 31, 2004 till date, which were required to be filed by May 31, 2004 for which a show cause notice has also been served on the Company. In the circumstances, the plea that the delay was not deliberate cannot be accepted. For the forgoing reasons, the default under Sub-section (1) of Section 245 is considered deliberate which attracts the penal provisions of Sub-section (3) of Section 245 of the Ordinance. 6. Although the default is established, yet keeping in view the financial difficulties of the Company, instead of imposing the maximum fine of Rs. 100,000 on every director and a further fine of Rs. 1,000 per day for the continuous default, I impose the following fines under Sub-section (3) of Section 245 of the Ordinance on the Chief Executive and the directors of the Company:- Name Penalty (Rupees) 1. Ms. Sarah Saif-ur-Rehman Khan, Chief Executive 30, 000 2. Mr. Saif-ur-Rehman Khan, Director 10,000 3. Mr. Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Khan, Director 10,000 4. Mrs. Samina Asad Khan, Director 10,000 5. Mr. Atiq-ur-Rehman Khan, Director 10,000 6. Mrs. Taufiqa Amanullah, Director 10,000 7. Mrs. Muneza Saif-ur-Rahman Khan, Director 10,000 Total 90,000 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN Enforcement Department Redco Textiles Limited Page 4 of 4 Violation of Section 245 7. The Chief Executive and directors of the Company are hereby directed to deposit the aforesaid fines in the designated bank account maintained in the name of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan with Habib Bank Limited within thirty days from the receipt of this order and furnish receipted challans to the Commission, failing which proceedings for recovery of the fines as arrears of land revenue will be initiated. Ejaz Ishaq Khan Executive Director Announced: July 23, 2004 ISLAMABAD Reply - December 13, 2009 Aamir Mughal Redco was established more than. 25 years ago by Mr. Saif ur Rehman. Khan – a leading Pakistani … industrialist, Mr. Khan is also a former Senator http://www.redcogroup.com/redcobrochure(e).pdf How FIA kidnapped notables to please Saif-ur-Rahman http://www.ghazali.net/book3/ch6/body_ch6.html Chairman of the Ehtesab Bureau, Senator Saif-ur-Rahman, used his power to harass political opponents and kidnapping leading businessmen. He operated mostly through a select group of FIA officials while Nawaz Sharif had first-hand information about Saif’s involvement in the kidnapping of some of the very reputed citizens as he ignored strong complaints against this nasty operation even from his cabinet colleagues. [3] For instance when the FIA sleuths kidnapped Farooq Hasan, owner of Hasan Associates, a renowned builder and developer of Karachi in 1998 and locked him at a Saif-run safe house in Islamabad, federal minister Halim Siddiqi had rushed to Nawaz Sharif to inform him about Saif’s involvement in the kidnapping of a well-known Karachi businessman. Halim Siddiqi’s pleas both to Sharif and Saif went unheeded as Hasan had to stay for about a week in Saif’s dungeon and was only released when he signed a confessional statement that had been prepared by Saif’s lieutenant at the Ehtesab Cell. Saif prepared confessional statement for Farooq Hasan relating to dealings of AES power plant with the Benazir government. Throughout his confinement Hasan was physically abused, mentally tortured and was not allowed to sleep. Hasan was also kept and interrogated at Saif’s personal residence in Islamabad. Jamil Ansari, the Chief Executive of a famous trading and business group in Karachi, was also kidnapped in 1998 by the FIA while he was about to board a Karachi-bound flight from Islamabad. For the next four days Ansari’s family in Karachi had no knowledge of his whereabouts. The case was soon brought to the knowledge of Nawaz Sharif, who conveniently ignored protest from an associate who thought that such daylight kidnappings of the business luminaries without any charges would bring the PML government into disrepute. For more than a week, Ansari, a businessman, was questioned for his friendship with a ranking naval official. This week-long illegal detention under Saif’s orders of the chief executive of a reputed firm had sent a shock wave in Karachi’s mercantile community, but the Nawaz Sharif administration was not bothered. The FIA was also involved in the kidnapping of Shahzad Sherry, a well-known international banker, from Karachi. Like other victims, Sherry was also swiftly shifted to Islamabad, where he was locked at a government-run safe house. For several days Sherry was kept in illegal confinement and questioned by the former Ehtesab Bureau stalwarts including Senator Saif-ur-Rahman. Sherry was apparently also paying price for his friendship with certain naval officials. His detention also continued for several days before being released without bringing any criminal charges against him. Karachi-based Jamil Hamdani, another representative of an international bank, was kidnapped from his house in Defence Society Karachi in Oct. 1999 and was forced to board an Islamabad-bound flight for an urgent meeting with Saif-ur-Rahman and his team. Saif pointedly informed Hamdani about his disliking for his bank’s interest in the privatisation of Habib Bank Limited. Jamil Hamdani was believed to be working on an international consortium that was interested in the management of overseas operations of Habib Bank. No apologies were offered after Hamdani was set free three days later by the Ehtesab sleuths who also warned him not to talk to the press about his ordeal. Saif’s frenzy to get private citizens abducted through the FIA touched its peak last year when he used the federal agency to kidnap Arif Zarwani, a UAE national and a reputed businessman, from his friend’s house in Defence Society Karachi. Zarwani, who had been arrested in an FIA-cum-police raid, was quickly flown to Islamabad, where he was handed over to Wasim Afzal, a close associate of Saif-ur-Rahman. The Ehtesab action created a stir in the UAE as Nawaz Sharif was personally told that Zarwani’s kidnapping in Karachi had endangered his official visit next day to the UAE. Zarwani, who was apparently picked up for his ties with Asif Zardari, was freed from the Ehtesab clutches, two days later, only after he was forced to listen to a telephonic sermon from Saif who was then touring Europe. No reasons were given for Arif Zarwani’s arrest nor any criminal charges were brought against him. Despite an official protest from the UAE Nawaz Sharif did not question Saif or the FIA for the kidnapping of a foreign national. In another case Ghulam Mustafa Memon, a well-known petroleum dealer and a former friend of Asif Ali Zardari, was kidnapped in an FIA action from his house in Defence Society, Karachi in 1998. During the operation the FIA sleuths ransacked his house. Memon, like other victims, was quickly flown to Islamabad where he was kept at a safe house for about a week. Mustafa Memon said that during the detention, he went through severe physical torture and mental harassment at the hands of senior Ehtesab officials. At last a week later Mustafa was quietly released from Islamabad and no criminal charges were brought against him. Among others who made the hostage list of Saif-ur-Rahman was Naeemuddin Khan, a senior United Bank Limited (UBL) executive responsible for recovering Rs 1.2 billion loans from Saif-ur-Rahman’s Redco Textile Mills. While using the FIA in the kidnapping of Naeemuddin Khan from his room at Karachi’s Pearl Continental Hotel, Senator Saif is understood to have told the FIA that Naeemuddin was involved in money laundering. Without verifying the facts an FIA team barged into Naeemuddin’s room in August this year and in the next few hours he was facing a Saif-ur-Rahman interrogation squad at an unspecified location in Islamabad. Naeemuddin’s ordeal ended after Nawaz Sharif listened to a strong complaint in this regard from National Assembly Speaker Illahi Bukhsh Soomro and ordered the bank executive’s release. Sharif, however, refused to order any probe into the kidnapping of a bank executive who was being punished for his attempt to recover Rs 1.2 billion of loan from Saif-ur-Rahman. Leading newspaper columnist Hussain Haqqani had been kidnapped by the FIA sleuths along with his brother, an active service Army Colonel, during an evening stroll on direct orders from Saif-ur-Rahman in early 1999. It was at least three days after Haqqani’s kidnapping that Saif-ur-Rahman ordered the FIA bosses to “produce” a case against him. Official sources confirmed Haqqani’s account that he was beaten and kept awake during the first week of his arrest. Haqqani was of the few Saif victims whose captivity brought criminal charges, vehemently denied by Haqqani who said that the cases against him was the figment of Saif’s imagination. The annual 1997 Human Rights Report of US State Department said the Accountability Commission, established by the caretaker government and headed by a retired judge, had been overshadowed by an “accountability cell,” headed by a close associate of the prime minister. This cell had been accused of conducting politically-motivated investigations of politicians, senior civil servants, and business figures, designed to extract evidence and, in some cases, televised confessions of alleged wrongdoers. The report gave the examples of televised confessions extracted from Salman Farooqi, secretary of commerce under Benazir Bhutto; Ahmed Sadiq, Benazir Bhutto’s principal secretary; and Zafar Iqbal, chairman of the Capital Development Authority. It said most politicians and bureaucrats, who had been charged with corruption or other crimes, were out on bail. Reply - December 13, 2009 Aamir Mughal Mr. Saif ur Rehman took 18 million us dollars from SCHON GROUP as to cover and finish these cases, that ammount was transfered from City Bank New York to Mashraq Bank New York To Mashraq Bank Maroor Road Abu Dhabi in the name of Fazal Waseem Khan emply of REDCO SUWAID READY MIX ABU DHABI and ralative of aif, I was working as Public Relation Officer in Redco Abu Dhabi and supervise these transitions on the instruction of Mr. Saif. Mr. Saif took this amount from mashraq bank and the transfer it to Dhoa Qater and some swiss banks in Switzerland, I know all this and i also helped miltry authorities in pakisatan, but i think Saif also give shere to them. in this reward i was kidnap and beaten by saif and other agencies in Pakistan, then I escape form Pakisatn in strange situation to Abu Dhabi, and here also I was attacked by saif,s people, i moved from there to USA with my family, I do have all this documentary prove with me that senator saif took this amount from SCHON GROUP Pakistan’s judicial crisis: remembering another sordid tale http://pakteahouse.wordpress.com/2007/12/11/pakistan-crisis-remembering-another-sordid-tale/ Reply - December 13, 2009 Aamir Mughal In My Own Defense “Put aside this petty vendetta.” By BENAZIR BHUTTO ASIA SEPTEMBER 7, 1998 VOL. 152 NO. 9 http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1998/980907/fighting_back.html http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1998/980907/fighting_back2.html Benazir Bhutto won a small victory last week in her long-running battle with the government of Prime Minister Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif over charges of corruption: a Pakistani court unfroze her declared assets, which had been frozen at the government’s request in April. But there have been setbacks for her as well. A judge in Switzerland two weeks ago recommended that Bhutto be prosecuted on charges of money laundering. And for nearly two years her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, has languished in a Karachi jail on accusations of involvement in the 1996 death of Bhutto’s brother Mir Murtaza. Pakistani prosecutors have been poring over her finances as well as the record of her two terms as Prime Minister for evidence of wrongdoing. Throughout the ordeal, Bhutto has stoutly maintained her innocence. In a lengthy May 18 story, TIME detailed the government’s seemingly relentless campaign against the former Prime Minister and her husband. That account did not please Bhutto. So we asked her to write an article giving her side of the story. Her response: In 1988, at the age of 35, I became the first woman leader of the Muslim world when I was democratically elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan. My victory at the polls was no fluke, but rather the product of 11 long years of struggle. My role in the fight to restore democracy following its overthrow and the death of my father at the hands of the military dictator General Zia ul Haq is now part of history. I twice held the office of Prime Minister–between 1988 and 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. During these two stints in office, the government of my Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) greatly enhanced the standing of Pakistan both internally and in the eyes of the world. Among other accomplishments, my government projected Islam as a religion of moderation. My speeches at major international conferences–on population planning in Cairo and on women’s rights in Beijing–united women in the East and the West. I galvanized the economy by encouraging foreign investment and actually paid off some of the principal on the country’s huge foreign debts. My programs to eliminate polio and reduce the population growth rate from a staggering 3.1% to 2.6% earned the gratitude of my countywomen. I restored the writ of government in Pakistan, giving the country stability, peace and prosperity, with an economic growth rate that hit 6%. All of this is now forgotten. When my government ended in 1996, one of the complaints against it was corruption. A similar charge had been leveled against the government of Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif when he was dismissed as Prime Minister in 1993. Unsubstantiated allegations of corruption are simply a convenient catch-all phrase thrown in among many other reasons whenever a government in Pakistan is dismissed. The current regime assumed office in February 1997. It is headed by Mr. Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), the other main political party in Pakistan and the bitter rival of the PPP. Since assuming office, notwithstanding the enormous economic and other problems facing the country, the Nawaz Sharif government has adopted a one-point agenda: the elimination of the opposition party in Pakistan, with a view toward promoting one-party rule and thwarting the democratic process that I had done so much to guarantee. This agenda has focused on leveling false allegations against me and my husband, Senator Asif Ali Zardari, accompanied by a well-orchestrated media trial that a celebrity-hungry press finds exciting. I am being tried under laws that did not exist when I was Prime Minister. The allegations largely involve unsubstantiated charges of corruption under the new Ehtesab (Accountability) Act 1997, passed with retroactive effect. Such laws are against the principles of natural justice. Complaints of alleged corruption under the Act are routed through the chairman of the Ehtesab Bureau, Saifur Rehman, who conveniently happens to be both a Senator from the PML and a close associate of the current Prime Minister. Hence the legal maxim that no man should be a judge in his own cause has been thrown out the window. Some Pakistanis have gone to the courts and to the press in attempts to expose the Senator’s brutal efforts to coerce them into committing perjury. Ninety percent of cases investigated have been against my party workers and me. The real irony, however, is that the chairman of the Ehtesab Bureau is himself a loan defaulter whose company in the last budget benefited from the reduction in the duty imposed on the import of luxury cars, which happens to be his business. No doubt this was his reward for his campaign of victimization against my party and me under the guise of the Ehtesab Act. Despite all the misleading statements emanating from the government, no investigations are being carried out against me by authorities in Britain. In Switzerland, authorities are investigating false allegations leveled against me by the Pakistani government. The High Court of Sindh province has stayed the Pakistani government from either corresponding with Swiss officials or pursuing the inquiry there until its legality has been determined. The government of Pakistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, has reportedly spent around $18 million in these desperate attempts to implicate me in false cases abroad. Yet the efforts have so far proved unsuccessful. In Pakistan itself, only a few complaints have been filed against me under the Ehtesab Act, even though government investigators have gone through nearly every executive action of my two periods in office with a fine-tooth comb. Let me summarize these accusations, for which charges have not yet been framed: PIA. I have been accused of making illegal appointments at Pakistan International Airways. This case has nothing to do with financial impropriety. Interestingly, an identical reference–with full supporting evidence–was filed against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but has not been referred to any court. Initially, I was not referred to in this case. I was added later on, when one of the people originally accused agreed to falsely implicate me in return for the case being dropped against him. Assets Misdeclaration. I have been accused of misdeclaring my assets when filing nomination papers for the 1997 elections. Again, this case does not involve financial impropriety. The official disinformation campaign has it that I own 11 properties in the United States, even though the government’s own detectives have confirmed that the properties are not mine. The public prosecutor admitted before the Lahore High Court that there is not a single piece of direct evidence linking me to bank accounts frozen by Switzerland. ARY Gold. I have been accused of granting monopoly rights for the import of gold to a firm called ARY Gold in return for receiving commissions. In fact, the contract was awarded after open tender in which only one company met the requirements. I played no role in selecting the successful bidder. Once again, I was not initially accused but named only later, after various witnesses were coerced into giving false statements against me in return for favors. Tractors. I have been accused of receiving commissions for the award of contracts to various tractor companies. Ironically, I am blamed for increasing the subsidized price of tractors for poor farmers from 110,000 rupees [about $2,200 at current exchange rates] to 150,000 [$3,000]. Yet today in the open market similar tractors are selling for 400,000 rupees [$8,000]. PSI Companies. I am accused of favoritism in the awarding of customs inspection contracts to a Swiss firm. Yet the contracts were initially negotiated by the Nawaz Sharif government in 1992. They were awarded through open tender by the Revenue Department, which in 1994 put forward its choice to a committee that included me, the Adviser on Finance, the Law Minister and other government functionaries, who approved it unanimously. The pre-shipment inspection companies managed to enhance revenue collection to the benefit of the country by millions of rupees. The evidence in all the above cases would be unlikely to get past the grand jury stage in the United States, let alone see a courtroom. The cases are based on political victimization that in any mature democracy would have no place in a court of law. This much-publicized victimization, however, is not just serving the political purpose of undermining the opposition in Pakistan. It is also furthering the government’s campaign to draw people’s attention away from the real issues facing the country, such as the collapse of the economy and the disharmony among the provinces, which are polarizing daily. With the freezing of foreign currency accounts and the unjustified cancellation of power projects following its nuclear tests, the government in one fell swoop destroyed investor confidence and trust in Pakistan. The result, economists agree, is likely to be hyperinflation, with all the social and economic consequences that accompany it. Worryingly, petroleum prices have already increased by 25%, and every day foodstuffs like bread, cooking oil and ghee (clarified butter) are rising in price. If the government’s handling of the economic situation was a blunder of monumental proportions, then its dealings with India have been a true disaster. As I write this article, heavy shelling continues along the Line of Control in Kashmir, and the specter of war between the two traditional rivals is again rearing its ugly head. Such tensions are unlikely to lead to an early signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by either country. That situation will keep the economy-squeezing effect of the sanctions firmly around Pakistan’s neck. As the nation nears the 21st century, the answers to our problems with India, including Kashmir, are likely to lie only in diplomacy, not in aggression and saber-rattling. The policies of this government have also continued to undermine the concept of federalism upon which Pakistan and its constitution are based. Such policies seem geared to favor the Prime Minister’s home province, Punjab, at the expense of the others. By reopening the contentious Kalabagh Dam issue, the government has created greater tensions among the provinces, at precisely the time when it should have been seeking greater unity and solidarity. My only hope is that the government can put aside its petty vendetta against the opposition party, and me in particular, and wake up to the needs of the nation before it is too late. Reply - December 13, 2009 Aamir Mughal OPINION – The Truth Will Out – My sin was that The Friday Times has never minced words, and Sharif can’t stomach criticism. NAJAM SETHI MAGAZINE | JUN 21, 1999 http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?207637 When an official goon squad stormed into my bedroom at 2.45 am on May 8, beat me up with gunbutts and chains, blindfolded, gagged and dragged me by my feet to a waiting car, I thought they intended to kill me. But they handed me over to the isi the next day for interrogation. I was ‘returned’ to the police in Islamabad three weeks later, on May 31, rushed to a special judge in charge of an ‘anti-terrorist’ court, charged with various counts of sedition and remanded to police custody for seven days. Two days later, however, the government realised it had no case against me. So the attorney general read out a brief statement in the Supreme Court saying that I had been released and the charges dropped, although the government reserved the right to proceed against me in fresh cases. The Supreme Court, however, noted that I could not be rearrested on the same charges without its prior permission. What was my sin? Relations between The Friday Times (tft) and the Nawaz Sharif government went from bad to worse in ’98. tft has never minced its words. And Sharif can’t stomach criticism. But matters came to a head in April this year when tft approved Benazir Bhutto’s conviction for corruption and expressed the hope that Sharif too would be held accountable one day. This editorial was followed by another in which the Sharif family and senator Saif ur Rahman (who heads the notorious Accountability Bureau) were lambasted for setting ruinous legal and financial precedents by refusing to pay back their accumulated loan defaults on the plea that ‘interest was un-Islamic’. I don’t think these comments endeared me to the prime minister or the senator, both of whom are known for their vindictiveness. Then came the proverbial straw which broke the camel’s back. A bbc team investigating allegations of money-laundering by the Sharifs arrived and set about interviewing many, including me. Soon, the Intelligence Bureau had persuaded Sharif that ‘a dark plot by Najam Sethi, in cahoots with the bbc, was afoot to discredit, undermine and overthrow’ the government. Or so said senator Saif when he phoned my wife asking for my whereabouts on April 30, the very day I was in New Delhi delivering the Kewal Singh Memorial Lecture at the India International Centre. When I returned to Lahore on May 3, my wife expressed fears that ‘they’ had determined to ‘teach Sethi a lesson’. The rest, as they say, is history. Out-of-context extracts from my speech in Delhi (‘enemy country’) were given to paid hacks and government lackeys who proceeded to paint me in the government-controlled electronic and print media as an ‘anti-Pakistan raw agent’. When the press hysteria ripened a week later, I was arrested by the police and handed over to the isi. The world was then informed that issues related to sedition rather than press freedom were involved in my case, that the army rather than the civilian government intended to act against me. When the Indian press protested my detention, I was called ‘a darling of the enemy’. When Western governments and human rights organisations spoke up for me, I was labelled a ‘cia agent’. The good news is that shortly after my abduction, a Pakistan Army spokesman said the army had nothing to do with my case. Although the isi interrogated me, it did not mistreat me. Eventually, it declined to press charges against me. The Supreme Court refused to give any weight to the government’s arguments and insisted upon giving me justice. The independent press at home and abroad consistently stuck by me. The political opposition in Pakistan joined ranks to defend me and condemned the government. The international community relentlessly castigated the Sharif government for infringing upon human rights in general and my rights in particular. In the end, most Pakistanis cast their lot with me instead of my misguided detractors. By making my case a cause celebre all over the free world, the Sharif government has unwittingly strengthened the cause of press freedom and human rights in Pakistan. But this unfortunate saga is not yet over. When I arrived back in Lahore on June 4, I was greeted with two dozen trumped-up ‘notices’ from the income tax department issued a couple of days earlier. These relate to my business and family accounts of the last 10 years, many of which were fully settled a long time ago. My house and that of my mother have been illegally ‘attached’, my wife’s bank accounts have been illegally seized and frantic efforts are afoot to cripple tft financially and force it to close down. No further proof of the government’s mala fide intentions should now be required by those who were led into believing that it was the Delhi speech rather than the editorials in tft which were, and remain, at the root of my ordeal. This has been a most unfortunate episode. I hope that wiser council will prevail in Islamabad in the future. For my part, I will continue to speak the truth. (The author is editor of ‘The Friday Times’, a Lahore-based weekly) Reply - December 13, 2009 Aamir Mughal Attacks on the Press in 1999 – Pakistan Publication Date February 2000 [UNHCR] http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,CPJ,ANNUALREPORT,PAK,,47c565b9c,0.html Committee to Protect Journalists, Attacks on the Press in 1999 – Pakistan, February 2000, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/47c565b9c.html [accessed 13 December 2009] Former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s efforts to muzzle the press, and bring the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government under his personal control, earned him the reputation of a tyrant and badly discredited Pakistan’s democracy. His slide toward authoritarianism ended abruptly with a bloodless coup on October 12, in which army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf took power. General Musharraf immediately declared himself “a firm believer in the freedom of the press,” but made a sobering reference to the press’s duty to “play a positive and constructive role.” Sharif began the year by intensifying a government crackdown on the Jang Group of Newspapers, the country’s largest newspaper publishing company. Journalists working for the company’s flagship papers – Jang, the country’s largest-circulation Urdu-language daily, and The News, an influential English-language national newspaper – reported being harassed by intelligence agents and receiving anonymous threats. The government demanded that the Jang Group’s publisher, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, dismiss or demote more than a dozen senior journalists whose names appeared on a government-compiled blacklist. When the Jang Group did not comply with the orders, it was hit with a series of tax evasion cases, its bank accounts were frozen, and its supplies of newsprint were impounded. By early February, Jang and The News were each running skeleton editions of just four pages, down from an average of around two dozen pages. After the publisher held closed-door talks with senior government officials, the crisis passed. But within the newsroom, there remained an air of uncertainty. “There’s a hanging sword on our necks,” Anjum Rashid, a senior editor of Jang’s Lahore edition, told CPJ. “So we are behaving.” The actions against the press were part of a larger campaign to eliminate dissent. Sharif also tried to block opposition demonstrations, and targeted thousands of non-governmental organizations for closure. On April 16, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) was ordered to stop publishing its quarterly HRCP Newsletter. The ban was illegal, based on a lapsed ordinance, and the newsletter continued to publish. In May, authorities targeted several journalists who had worked with a BBC television team investigating government corruption – including Najam Sethi, editor of the English-language political weekly The Friday Times, published in Lahore. Sethi was imprisoned on May 8, held for nearly a month without charge, and accused of being a spy for India (the neighboring countries have fought each other in three wars, and came to the brink of a fourth when fighting in the disputed territory of Kashmir intensified sharply at the end of May). Even after he was freed, Sethi continued to be harassed by authorities. More than two dozen cases of tax evasion were filed against him immediately after his release, and he was placed on Pakistan’s Exit Control List, preventing him from traveling abroad. And on July 15, a member of parliament from Prime Minister Sharif’s ruling Muslim League party, submitted a petition to have Sethi barred from voting or standing for elected office on the grounds that he did not “fulfill the requirements of a Muslim” and had spoken against the “ideology of Pakistan.” On November 23, CPJ honored Sethi and his wife, Jugnu Mohsin (publisher of The Friday Times), with its International Press Freedom Award. There were also abuses of power at the local level. In July, criminal charges were filed against three journalists from the Karachi-based weekly magazine Pakistan News for “publishing a provocative article having serious sectarian implications.” In Northwest Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan, journalists reporting on Pakistan’s relationship with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia faced threats from Pakistani police and intelligence agents, as well as from local agents of the Taliban. Afghan journalists, who, as refugees, have no legal protection in Pakistan, were particularly vulnerable to harassment. In a measure of how bad things were under Sharif, many reporters and editors who had been harassed by the former administration reported feeling more secure with a military government in place. Musharraf, who led Pakistan’s fourth military coup in as many decades, made a concerted effort to avoid being seen as a military dictator. Calling himself the country’s “chief executive,” Musharraf declared, “This is not martial law, only another path towards democracy.” The general did, however, suspend the constitution, and abolish the national and provincial legislatures. He allowed the judiciary to function on the condition that courts “shall not have the powers to make any order against the Chief Executive or any person exercising powers or jurisdiction under his authority.” At least two incidents seemed to belie the Musharraf regime’s promise to respect press freedom. Days after the military takeover, Ghulam Hasnain, a free-lancer working for the American weekly newsmagazine Time, discovered that his name had been placed on the Exit Control List, apparently because of his reporting on Kashmir. His name was removed from the list after Time protested the action in an editor’s letter published in its October 25 Asia edition. On October 21, a truckload of soldiers visited the Lahore offices of Mazdoor Jeddojuhd (“Worker’s Struggle”), the weekly paper of the Labour Party of Pakistan (LPP). The paper’s October 19 edition featured an “appeal to the working masses to fight against the military dictatorship,” according to a statement released by the LPP after the incident. Officers questioned the staff about why the paper had published material against the military, asked for information about the paper’s owner and its printing press, and left with several copies of the paper. But the press overall was operating freely at year’s end. While there was a marked tendency toward self-censorship, some journalists still aired frank criticism of the new administration’s policies. January 28 Kamran Khan, The News HARASSED State intelligence agents visited the home of Khan, Karachi-based investigations editor for the English-language daily The News. The message was that he “must behave because they knew well about my movements and activities,” Khan told CPJ. The agents identified themselves as members of Pakistan’s Intelligence Bureau (IB), which under civilian governments reports directly to the prime minister. Khan’s sources apparently confirmed that the IB was tapping his phone calls, and that transcripts of his conversations were provided to the government’s Accountability Bureau to “dig [for] some weak points.” Under Prime Minister Sharif’s government, the Accountability Bureau was an agency ostensibly set up to investigate corruption but regularly used to target Sharif’s political opponents. On February 1, CPJ sent a letter to Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif noting that the actions against Khan appeared to be part of the administration’s broader campaign against journalists working for publications of the Jang newspaper group, which includes The News. January 29 Maleeha Lodhi, The News THREATENED Lodhi, editor of the English-language daily The News’ Islamabad edition, received a series of anonymous phone calls threatening that she would be killed and that her house would be blown up. Lodhi documented the threats in a January 30 letter to Interior Minister Chaudhry Shujat Hussain. Lodhi had previously served as ambassador to the United States under former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and was politically at odds with the government of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. According to CPJ’s sources, the threats were related to Lodhi’s journalistic work, which was highly critical of the Sharif administration. The administration had applied tremendous pressure on the Jang newspaper group, of which The News is a part, to dismiss Lodhi and replace her with someone more sympathetic to the government. In a February 1 letter to Prime Minister Sharif, CPJ noted that the threats against Lodhi appeared to be related to the administration’s broader campaign against journalists working for publications of the Jang newspaper group. February 1 Amir Mir, The News THREATENED, HARASSED Mir, a Lahore-based special correspondent with the investigative unit of the national daily The News and a frequent contributor to the monthly magazine Newsline and the weekly The Friday Times, told CPJ that he was being investigated by the government because of his reports on official corruption. In February, Mir was told by a source in the government’s Accountability Bureau – an agency ostensibly set up to investigate corruption but regularly used by the administration to target political opponents – that his phones were being tapped, and that the bureau was collecting a file on him. Mir had written numerous articles exposing corruption and mismanagement in both Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s administration and that of his brother Shahbaz Sharif, then-chief minister of Punjab Province. Mir had also written several pieces about the suspicious financial dealings of Sen. Saif-ur-Rehman, head of the Accountability Bureau. Saif-ur-Rehman is believed to have orchestrated Sharif’s harassment campaign against independent journalists in Pakistan. Mir said that while he had grown accustomed to receiving anonymous threats over the phone, the frequency of such calls increased in the spring. “The callers have never identified themselves, and they never will. However, the messages they convey and the language they use clearly indicates that they are all doing this on government’s behalf,” Mir told CPJ. He said the most common threat he received was the warning that if he didn’t “stop writing against the Prime Minister, his brother and Saif-ur-Rehman, we will break your legs.” Mir also said that he was being routinely followed by agents from the Intelligence Bureau. Under civilian governments, the head of the IB reports directly to the prime minister. February 1 Jang Group of Newspapers HARASSED, CENSORED Officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) impounded supplies of newsprint bound for the Jang Group of Newspapers’ Rawalpindi headquarters. This was the latest salvo in a months-long feud between the administration and the Jang Group, Pakistan’s largest newspaper publishing company. The move came just hours after a ruling in the Jang Group’s favor by the Supreme Court, ordering the government to allow the immediate delivery of newsprint to the company, which said its newsprint stocks were virtually depleted. The Supreme Court’s order was delivered on the first day of hearings in a case filed by the Jang Group, accusing the government of conducting a campaign of “vilification, intimidation and harassment.” Government officials reportedly announced that they would not comply with the Supreme Court’s directive on the grounds that the Jang Group owed customs duties on previous shipments of newsprint, amounting to 1.6 billion rupees (US$31.4 million). The government meanwhile delivered a stream of tax evasion notices against the company and its publisher, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, totaling more than 2 billion rupees (US$40 million). By early February 1999, the Jang Group was running skeleton editions of its flagship papers. The national dailies Jang and The News, each of which typically runs around two dozen pages, were both down to just four pages. During the showdown, the government used the state income tax division, customs authority, intelligence agencies, and police, as well as its leverage over the courts, to bring the publishing house to heel. This multi-pronged assault was engineered by the Accountability Bureau, an agency ostensibly established by the Sharif administration to investigate political corruption across the board, but regularly used by the former prime minister to target his political opponents. On February 1, CPJ sent a letter to Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, urging him to cease his administration’s campaign against the Jang Group. April 16 HRCP Newsletter LEGAL ACTION On May 7, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), one of the country’s largest and most well-respected human rights groups, received a notice from the district magistrate in Lahore stating that its quarterly, the HRCP Newsletter, had been banned. According to the government memorandum, dated April 16, a show-cause notice had been sent to the HRCP in April 1998, asking the organization to give reasons why the newsletter’s license to publish should not be withdrawn. The memorandum said that because the HRCP had not responded to the show-cause notice, the publishing license for its newsletter “has been notified as null and void under Section 9(3) of the West Pakistan Press and Publications Ordinance, 1963.” Sources at the HRCP told CPJ that they never received the initial show-cause notice mentioned in the memorandum. They believed the action was part of a government crackdown on non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Under Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s administration, NGOs were punished for publishing reports critical of the government’s record on human rights and social welfare. The Press and Publications Ordinance cited in the order lapsed in 1997. Though the HRCP notified the district magistrate of this fact and requested a formal withdrawal of the order, they received no response. The ban was not enforced, however. May 4 Ejaz Haider, The Friday Times THREATENED At around 1:30 p.m., Haider, news editor for The Friday Times, received a handwritten, unsigned note advising him to install bullet-proof windows in his car. Haider was not home at the time; the note was handed to the journalist’s 7-year-old son in the company of the family maid. Haider told CPJ that he might have been targeted because he works for Najam Sethi, editor of the Lahore-based weekly The Friday Times. Recent news reports on state-controlled television had accused Sethi of unpatriotic behavior and called for him to be tried on sedition charges. The Friday Times had run a series of stories alleging rampant corruption within the government of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, which may have prompted the attacks. On May 5, CPJ sent a letter to Prime Minister Sharif, noting that the threat against Haider appeared to be part of the administration’s harassment campaign against journalists. May 5 Imtiaz Alam, The News THREATENED Alam, current affairs editor for the English-language daily The News in Lahore, witnessed two or three men setting fire to one of his cars, leaving behind only its charred remains. The incident happened between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m.; the men apparently broke into Alam’s gated residential compound and pushed the two vehicles into the street. Then they set fire to the newer car, a Suzuki Khyber, leaving the other vehicle untouched. Alam told CPJ he had been receiving threatening phone calls for some time, and believed the arson attack may have been prompted by his recent articles about the government’s so-called “accountability” campaign, directed by Sen. Saifur Rehman. Under the guise of investigating corruption, the campaign allegedly targeted many of the administration’s political opponents, including journalists. On May 5, CPJ sent a letter to Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, noting that the threat against Haider appeared to part of the administration’s harassment campaign against journalists. May 8 Najam Sethi, The Friday Times IMPRISONED At around 2:30 a.m. on May 8, dozens of government agents raided the home of Sethi, editor of the Lahore-based weekly The Friday Times. According to Jugnu Mohsin, Sethi’s wife and the publisher of The Friday Times, the raid was the work of Pakistan’s Intelligence Bureau in partnership with the Punjab police. She said the officers forced their way through the locked gate of the residence, assaulted two security guards who had been hired to protect the family, and broke into the house. At least eight armed officers – two uniformed, and the rest plainclothes – burst into the couple’s bedroom to make the arrest. Officers pulled Sethi out of bed and beat him with clubs and steel handcuffs. When Mohsin asked the officers to produce a warrant for Sethi’s arrest, one of them threatened to shoot her husband immediately and leave his corpse in place of a warrant. While several officers dragged Sethi away at gunpoint, two others tied Mohsin up and locked her in her dressing room. Just two days before his arrest, Sethi told CPJ that the government was using state-controlled media to set the stage for his arrest on charges of high treason and sedition. Sethi said he had been warned by senior government officials that some viewed his recent work with a BBC television crew investigating corruption within the family of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif as an attempt to destabilize the country and overthrow the government, and that his arrest was imminent. An unnamed government spokesman was quoted widely in the Pakistani press as saying that the Inter-Services Intelligence agency was responsible for the arrest, and citing Sethi’s alleged collaboration with Indian intelligence agents as grounds for his detention. On June 1, the ISI transferred Sethi to police custody, after an official First Information Report was filed against him under sections 123-A (“Condemnation of the Creation of the State and Advocacy of Abolition of its Sovereignty”), 124-A (sedition), and 153-A (“Promoting Enmity Between Different Groups”) of Pakistan’s penal code, and Section 13 of the Prevention of Anti-National Activities Act of 1974. But on June 2, after failing to produce convincing evidence before the Supreme Court to justify Sethi’s prolonged detention, the attorney general announced that the government was dropping all charges against him. CPJ sent protest letters to Prime Minister Sharif on May 10, following Sethi’s arrest, and again on June 3, upon his release, expressing dismay about the government’s systematic campaign to stifle independent journalism in Pakistan. June 23 Najam Sethi, The Friday Times HARASSED Officials from the Federal Immigration Authority (FIA) prevented Friday Times editor Sethi from boarding his scheduled flight to London, where he was to accept an award from Amnesty International recognizing “Human Rights Journalism Under Threat.” According to Sethi, FIA officials informed him that he was barred from traveling abroad for as long as his name appeared on the government’s Exit Control List. They told him that his name had been added to the list on June 2, the same day the government dropped all sedition-related charges against Sethi and ordered his release from custody. Sethi was arrested at his home in Lahore on May 8, and detained for several weeks in the custody of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, the army-dominated intelligence unit. Government statements indicated that Sethi was being investigated for “anti-state” activities, including his alleged collaboration with Indian intelligence operatives. CPJ believes that Sethi’s arrest stemmed from The Friday Times’ consistent calls for the administration to answer charges of high-level corruption, coupled with the editor’s recent work with a BBC television team investigating these allegations. Just after the FIA agents turned Sethi away at the airport, he was approached by an official in plainclothes standing nearby, who asked him to hand over his passport. Assuming that the man was also with the FIA, Sethi complied with his request. The official then took Sethi’s passport under the pretext of making a copy of it. When he did not return, Sethi asked to be taken to the man’s office. There he discovered that his passport had in fact been seized by an agent from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), a civilian security agency. The agent, who identified himself as Inspector Tariq Aziz, told Sethi that the IB would return his passport by mail after “due verification purposes.” Sethi’s passport had been returned to him just two days earlier, on June 21, by the ISI, which had been holding it ever since Sethi’s May arrest. CPJ formally requested that Sethi’s name be struck from the Exit Control List in letters sent to the Prime Minister on June 23 and July 19. On June 28, an IB officer personally returned Sethi’s passport, and on July 27, Sethi received an official memorandum from the Interior Ministry, dated June 28, confirming his removal from the list. July 8 Naveed Shad Arain, Pakistan News IMPRISONED Nasir Mehmood, Pakistan News IMPRISONED Haleem Adil Shaikh, Pakistan News HARASSED Karachi police raided the offices of the weekly magazine Pakistan News (published in both Urdu and Sindhi editions) and arrested Arain, an editor, and Mehmood, a graphics editor. Police also raided the home of Shaikh, the weekly’s publisher, but were unable to find him. Police filed criminal charges against the journalists for violating sections of Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Law and penal code. Police chief Farooq Amin Qureshi told Agence France-Presse that the journalists were targeted for “publishing a provocative article having serious sectarian implications, which might ignite law and order problems in Karachi and other parts of [Sindh] province.” The article detailed alleged sexual improprieties by the head of the Tehrik-e-Jafaria party, a political group supported by some in the minority Shiite Muslim community. Violent clashes between militant factions of Shiite and Sunni Muslims have contributed to Karachi’s toll of thousands killed in ethnic, political, and sectarian violence over the past several years. The Karachi Union of Journalists held a meeting on July 9 to denounce the police actions and demand Arain’s and Mehmood’s release. Police released the two later that day, citing “medical grounds.” On July 12, CPJ learned that police had closed the case on instructions from the Sindh provincial government. Shaikh’s brother was then a member of the Sindh provincial assembly and of the country’s ruling party. July 15 Najam Sethi, The Friday Times LEGAL ACTION The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) summoned Sethi to appear before the court on July 28 in response to a petition filed by a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly seeking to disqualify him from ever voting or running for office. The petition – filed by Syed Zafar Ali Shah, a member of the ruling party – asked the CEC to determine Sethi’s religious credentials, and requested that his name be struck from the voters’ lists if he “does not fulfill the requirements of a Muslim” as defined in Article 260-3 of Pakistan’s constitution. The petitioner also charged that Sethi’s speech before a New Delhi audience on April 30 violated Articles 62(h) and 63-1(g) of the constitution, which prohibit people whose speech or actions are deemed prejudicial to the “ideology of Pakistan” from holding any elected office. Journalists in Pakistan told CPJ that the case was filed at the behest of then-Senator Saif-ur Rehman, who headed the Sharif government’s Accountability Bureau and was widely believed to be in charge of the administration’s attacks against the opposition, including journalists. On July 19, CPJ wrote to Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, expressing concern about his government’s ongoing persecution of Najam Sethi. CPJ observed Sethi’s October 6 hearing before Chief Election Commissioner Muhammed Qadeer in Islamabad. After a two-hour hearing, Qadeer dismissed the petition without comment. Reply - December 13, 2009 ==