Pakistan’s Supreme Court threw out an amnesty Wednesday shielding senior government figures from prosecution, opening the door for corruption cases to be brought against the president’s allies.<\/p>\n
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry read out the ruling declaring the amnesty “void”.<\/p>\n
The National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) was passed in October 2007 by then-president Pervez Musharraf, under international pressure to hold democratic elections and end about eight years of military rule.<\/p>\n
It quashed charges against a number of politicians including Zardari and his wife and ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto — who was assassinated two months later — to allow them to stand for office.<\/p>\n
“The provisions of the NRO seem to be against national interests thus it violates the provisions of the constitution,” the ruling said.<\/p>\n