Political victimization of opposition parties: Different laws for Zardari and Musharraf, government members: Bilawal

KARACHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday blasted the government over political victimisation of opposition parties and not bringing the likes of former President Pervez Musharraf to justice. The trend of victimising the opposition leaders continued even during a global pandemic, said Bilawal in reaction to the indictment of former President Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur in money laundering reference.

There were two laws in Pakistan, he remarked. Zardari and Faryal had been facing courts and imprisonment for the last two years, Bilawal said and added that they were even barred from leaving the country by placing them on Exit Control List (ECL).

But, the PPP chairman noted, Musharraf who he referred to as a "runaway dictator" and "traitor" as well as three special assistants to the Prime Minister, other cabinet members and Aleema Khan - Imran Khan's sister - won't be summoned.

Earlier in the day, an accountability court in Islamabad on Monday indicted Zardari and Faryal in another reference - this time pertaining to alleged money laundering - as the two accused, who were present in the courtroom, pleaded not guilty to the charges. The indictment came after Zardari filed a petition in Islamabad High Court (IHC) earlier in the day for quashing the money laundering and Park Lane trials on references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

In this connection, Zardari pleaded that he was not guilty in the said reference thus he should be acquitted. He prayed that references be quashed as they are "without jurisdiction, illegal, unlawful, null and void ab-initio." Soon after his indictment, Zardari responded affirmatively by saying Insha'Allah as a reporter asked him whether the PPP would stand by PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif as per the decisions taken at the recently-held APC.

About the accountability court's decision, the former President remarked that they had returned to the same place, in an apparent reference the years of imprisonment he has experienced in the past.