Lawyer says Pakistan to press Swiss case against Zardari

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - Pakistan will pursue the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto for 60 million Swiss francs ($54 million) it says the couple hid illegally in Switzerland, its lawyer said on Tuesday.

A hearing is expected to be held in Geneva in late January in the long-running money-laundering case, begun in 1997 against Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari, according to Jacques Python, Pakistan's lawyer in the Swiss city.

Zardari, now de facto leader of the Pakistan People's Party, is carrying the Bhutto dynasty's torch after the former prime minister was killed in a gun and bomb attack on December 27 as she left an election rally. Elections have been put off to February 18.

"We remain a civil party in the (criminal) procedure against Mr. Zardari," Python told Reuters. "To our knowledge, 60 million Swiss francs remain frozen in connection with the case."

The amount is four times the $13 million previously referred to as being blocked in connection with alleged kickbacks from Swiss cargo inspection companies. Geneva judicial officials were not available to comment.

"She (Bhutto) appears little in the bank documents. On the other hand, Zardari's name appears as the beneficial owner of most of the accounts that are frozen," Python said.

"The time has come to look at the technical issues so that the frozen funds can be returned to Pakistan."

The couple always denied the charges and Bhutto came to Geneva several times to testify that the case was politically motivated. They were convicted in 2003 of laundering funds worth $13 million and ordered to return that sum to Pakistan.

But the verdict was thrown out on appeal, sparking a fresh probe by a Geneva judge, whose confidential findings last year were contested by lawyers for both Bhutto and Zardari.

The forthcoming hearing in Geneva will decide whether the case returns to the judge for more work or goes to chief prosecutor Daniel Zappelli who can drop it or order a trial.

Swiss charges against Bhutto ended with her death.

"She always affirmed that the accounts were not hers and she did not have any access to them," her former Swiss lawyer Alec Reymond said on Tuesday.

DENIES CHARGES

Saverio Lembo, Zardari's lawyer in Geneva, reaffirmed on Tuesday that his client denied the money-laundering charges.

"We requested that the case be sent back to the judge for more investigation, including calling other witnesses," Lembo told Reuters. "My client has never been heard in this case."