ISLAMABAD: The interim judge of the accountability court in Islamabad on Thursday reserved its ruling on a request seeking facilities in jail for former President Asif Ali Zardari.
Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan also suspended the proceedings in the case of false accounts until September 19.
The accountability court on August 16 allowed Zardari to make use of the air conditioning, refrigerator, internet and personal assistant facilities in his own pocket.
However, as the administration of the Adiala prison does not allow the president to have these facilities even at his own expense, his legal team submitted an application to the accountability court seeking to initiate a contempt process against the authorities of the jail.
In response, the prison superintendent explained in a report that the prison administration requested the opinion of the legal department on the matter. According to him, the former president is getting refrigerator facilities to store medicines, television and newspapers. Mr. Zardari also received medical treatment and, instead of deploying an exclusive assistant, the medical staff treats him 24 hours a day.
The report says that for the provision of air conditioning facilities, the prison administration is awaiting the advice of the Punjab government.
During the court process, Mr. Zardari approached the stand and said he was previously provided with air conditioning facilities in the jail, but this time despite court instructions, the prison administration was not providing these facilities.
Zardari, while leaving the courtroom, separated a police officer with simple clothes and asked him to stay away from his sister Faryal Talpur, who is also co-accused in the case of false accounts and left the room after attending the Thursday process.
Posted in Dawn, September 6, 2019
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1503801/verdict-on-zardaris-plea-for-jail-facilities-reserved
