An anti-corruption court in Pakistan on Friday summoned former president Asif Ali Zardari in an old graft case against him in which he was accused of acquiring assets illegally.
The Rawalpindi accountability court started proceedings against 59-year-old Zardari for illegally making assets in 1990s when his wife Benazir Bhutto was the Prime Minister.
Judge Raja Ikhlaq Hussain of accountability court heard a petition by the National Accountability Bureau, an anti-graft watchdog, which argued that presidential immunity for Zardari has now expired and that the reference can now be reopened.
Zardari served as the President of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013.
The court accepted the petition and ordered Zardari to appear before the judge on April 27.
The assets reference was initiated against Zardari and Bhutto in 2001 but its hearing adjourned indefinitely in 2010.
According to allegations, Zardari had purchased a number of properties and deposited the money from kickbacks in different Swiss banks.
Bhutto’s name was removed as co-accused after her untimely death in a terrorist attack in 2007.
