Brief on Asif Ali
Zardari
Book titled:
Asif Ali
Zardari
A Symnbol of Courage Loyalty &
Determination.
Click Here to rad the book on-line
President Zardari's Speech
in United Nation (click here)
Asif
Ali
Zardari is
the husband of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who was twice elected Prime
Minister of Pakistan.
a. Born on 21 July 1956
at Nawabshah
b .
Educational Qualification
i. 1972 Graduation from
Cadet College Petaro, Dadu
ii. 1976 Business & Economics from Pedinton School, London
c. Business:
Director of M/s Zardari Group (Pvt.) Ltd.
d. Social
Status
i. Member National
Assembly 1990-93
ii. Member National Assembly 1993-96
iii. Federal Minister 1993
iv. Federal Minister 1995-96
v. Senator 1997 - 1999
Asif
Ali
Zardari
was arrested on the
night of 4th November 1996 from Lahore (Province of Punjab), upon
dissolution of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto's government by Presidential
order. He was held incommunicado for two days and on Habeous Corpus
petition filed before Lahore High Court, the then regime disclosed he
was detained under Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1961 for a
period of thirty days.
However, before the hearing of the
petition could take place, the government withdrew the detention order
and Asif Ali Zardari was shifted to Karachi (Province of Sindh) on
27-11-96. On arrival he was detained/arrested under fresh detention
order passed under Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1961. The said
fresh detention order was challenged before the Sindh High Court,
Karachi, on 7th December 1996 which set aside the said order as being
malafide and illegal and ordered for his release on 18th December, 1996.
During this period, policemen present
during the shooting of Mir Murtaza Bhutto and other officers were
arrested and tortured to implicate Senator Zardari. Army personnel were
involved in their interrogation contrary to law. Three investigative
officers were replaced and two sub divisional magistrates changed when
they refused to record statements violative of the law in the matter.
Army officials took the magistrates to
the detention centers to record the statement, an illegal act as the
case being criminal in nature fell out of army purview.
Pursuant to the order of the Sindh High
Court Senator Zardari was released on 18th December 1996. He was
re-arrested in Mir Murtaza Bhutto Murder case the moment he stepped out
of the prison on 18th December, 1996.
Senator Zardari, after re-arrest, was
shifted to Women's police station Karachi for one week. Here he was
tortured through sleep deprivation for several days and made to stand
for hours with a bright light shining into his eyes whilst he was
interrogated. This damaged his eye sight as he had had an eye surgery
six weeks earlier aside from the physical discomfort and mental
disorientation.
At the Women's police station, Senator
Zardari was interrogated by army personnel in contravention of the law.
He was pressured to wrongly confess to his brother-in-law's murder which
he refused proclaiming his innocence.
He was remanded to prison when the
Magistrate refused to grant further police remand.
Since the dismissal of the PPP
government, the army backed regimes made numerous false and concocted
cases against Senator Zardari with malafide intentions and ulterior
motives. It was feared that they wished to judicially murder Senator
Zardari as some of these cases carried the death sentence.
Simultaneously, scores of bankers,
businessmen, bureaucrats, family and personal staff were arrested,
tortured and offered inducements to give perjured statements or face
financial and personal ruin.
This is the Eighth year that Senator
Zardari is being held as an under-trial prisoner. During 1990 and 1991,
he was held for three years behind bars. Not one of those charges, where
the Senator pleaded innocent, was substantiated.
One conviction was obtained by the
trial court in the Pre-Shipment matter in April 1999. That conviction
was set aside by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in April 2001 which
accepted the prayer that the trial court was biased.
News/Interview
Asif vs NAB
Death of Justice
