Pakistan Arrests a Top Crime Official: NYT

By JANE PERLEZ

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Supreme Court ordered the arrest of a senior white-collar crime official on Tuesday, and threatened to send the nation’s top anticorruption official to jail if he did not swiftly seek the reopening of corruption cases in Switzerland against President Asif Ali Zardari.

The dramatic arrest in the magisterial courtroom renewed the confrontation between the Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and the civilian government. The battle has simmered since last December when the court effectively restored corruption cases, many stemming from the 1990s, against thousands of politicians, including Mr. Zardari, and asked the government to inform the Swiss judiciary that Pakistan wanted to continue to pursue cases against the president.

As president, Mr. Zardari is granted immunity from prosecution under the Constitution. But Mr. Chaudhry appeared to question the inviolability of the president’s immunity during Tuesday’s hearing, saying that Mr. Zardari or his legal representative had yet to claim immunity before the court.

Mr. Zardari served 11 years in jail on charges of corruption that he and his lawyers have always insisted were politically motivated, noting that he was never convicted of anything. His supporters and others have accused Mr. Chaudhry of waging a campaign against the president and using the bench to meddle in politics.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan Arrests a Top Crime Official: NYT