Pakistani Supreme Court Pressures PM On Corruption Case

Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani

Pakistan's top court has ordered the government to ask Switzerland to reopen a corruption case against Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

The Supreme Court on March 8 also gave the government a two-week deadline to prove its compliance.

The case is at the center of contempt proceedings against Pakistan's prime minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani.

Gilani was charged last month after the government refused to follow an earlier Supreme Court request to speak to the Swiss in the Zardari case.

Gilani may be jailed and barred from office if convicted.

The corruption case against Zardari was dropped under a 2008 amnesty on corruption cases.

The Supreme Court later overturned the amnesty, declaring it unconstitutional.

Zardari says the case is politically motivated, and the government has argued that he has immunity as head of state.

With AFP reporting