PAKISTAN: BENAZIR BHUTTO LODGES COMPLAINT AGAINST PRIME MINISTER скачать в хорошем качестве

PAKISTAN: BENAZIR BHUTTO LODGES COMPLAINT AGAINST PRIME MINISTER

(27 Aug 1998) English/Nat Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has lodged a complaint with a special corruption investigator accusing Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of tax evasion and money laundering. Bhutto is also accusing Sharif's government of launching a one-sided campaign to destroy her political career and remove moderate leadership from Pakistan. The opposition leader was sacked as prime minister of Pakistan in 1996 on corruption charges which she has denied. Benazir Bhutto lodged her complaint against Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday, with the same anti-corruption commission she herself condemns as one-sided. The Eteshab - or Accountability Cell - was set up after Bhutto's government was sacked in November 1996 by former president Farooq Leghari on charges of corruption and misrule. But she has always denied any wrongdoing, and has said she is willing to face trial if Sharif does so as well. Bhutto is accusing Sharif of abusing his premiership from 1990 to 1993 to build an industrial empire of 20 factories from the nine he owned before taking office. SOUNDBITE: (English) "We just filed a petition, under the Eteshab Act, against the prime minister and some of his colleagues. It's been filed on behalf of the Pakistan People's Party by Senator Masood Kosar. And we brought out a very tangible and specific case of corruption and tax evasion by the prime minister (Nawaz Sharif) and his colleagues." SUPER CAPTION: Aitazaz Ahssan, Bhutto supporter In a news conference soon afterwards, Bhutto said the case she filed against Sharif contained all the evidence needed to disqualify him from office and bar him from politics for a decade. Bhutto is also accusing Sharif of paying only 897 rupees (15 dollars) in income tax in the fiscal year 1992-93. Her husband, Asif Zardari, was a minister in her disgraced cabinet and has been in jail since she was ousted. She said the campaign to convict her and her supporters of corruption was simply Sharif and his party's way of disguising their own wrongdoings. SOUNDBITE: (English) "These corrupt elements have sought refuge by targeting the Pakistan People's Party which they see as a threat to their ill-gotten wealth. The one-sided nature of the accountability process is obvious. I have already called for an inquiry into the 18 million dollars spent in secret service funds against the Pakistan People's Party." SUPER CAPTION: Benazir Bhutto, Former Pakistani Prime Minister Bhutto won a small victory on Wednesday in one case against her when a court in the eastern city of Lahore ordered her bank accounts unfrozen. The government had frozen the accounts, saying the money was ill-gotten, but the former prime minister argued she needed the funds to fight numerous court cases. Bhutto again insisted she had not stolen a single penny from the state while she was prime minister. She said she was ready to face trial, but only in an impartial court system. SOUNDBITE: (English) "As far as I am concerned, I don't want an escape clause. I have done nothing wrong and I am prepared to face trial in any court of law. But all I'm saying is that I should be tried by ordinary laws and by judges who are not close to Nawaz Sharif. There are plenty of good judges in this country. People want accountability of their leaders. I am presenting myself for accountability under ordinary law. I see no reason why Mr. Nawaz Sharif should hide from accountability." SUPER CAPTION: Benazir Bhutto, Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has not yet responded to Bhutto's complaint against him. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...