LEAD: Pakistani court decides to charge premier with contempt

Feb 2, 2012, 10:24 GMT

Islamabad - Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday said it would charge Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani with contempt of court over his refusal to ask Switzerland to investigate the president for money laundering.

The court summoned Gilani to appear on February 13 to stand trial for contempt.

'The court verdict has come but we still have the right for an appeal against it,' Gilani's lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan told reporters outside the court, adding that he would advise his client to appeal since he has sufficient grounds to defend himself.

The prime minister has refused to obey a court order to write to Swiss authorities to ask them to reopen money-laundering cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, arguing that as the head of state he enjoys immunity from prosecution.

The Swiss cases, which date back to the mid-1990s, were closed at the request of Pakistan under a controversial reconciliation order.

The order involved a deal between the Pakistan Peoples Party and former military strongman Pervez Musharraf, under which many people, including Zardari, were granted immunity from corruption and other criminal charges. Zardari benefitted from it months before his election as president in September 2008.

Gilani could lose his job if the court convicts him. Such a decision would push Pakistan into a deep political crisis at a time when its economy is faltering and it is battling Islamist militants.

Legal experts said that the issue of Gilani's alleged contempt of court could have been resolved if the court had interpreted the constitutional immunity in favour of the president.

'The immunity stands in the constitution but since it was never invoked by any president it stands uninterpreted. There was a good chance to interpret it today but Mr Aitzaz avoided that path,' said Yasin Azad, the head of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association.

Aitzaz instead said his client was not a legal expert and was following what his law ministry advised and they convinced him that Zardari had presidential immunity.

Some political analysts said that Aitzaz held back on the presidential immunity issue because a negative court interpretation would have set a significant precedent.