PM Pakistan: Alasannya Logik, Pun Tak Lepas, Kalau PM Kita Bagaimana?

Pakistani prime minister convicted of contempt but avoids prison time

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Pakistani Supreme Court on Thursday convicted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of contempt but gave him just a symbolic sentence that will not require him to serve time in prison.


The court found Gilani guilty of the contempt charge after his repeated refusals to ask Swiss authorities to revive old corruption charges against the country's president, Asif Ali Zardari.


But it sentenced him only for the duration of the hearing, which lasted several minutes. He could have faced as much as six months in jail.

The court's indictment in February said Gilani had "willfully flouted, disregarded and disobeyed the direction given by this court." Gilani had pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Gilani's lawyers have argued that the prime minister has not followed the court's order to press for the reopening of the charges because Zardari enjoys immunity in Pakistan and abroad as a president in office.

The conviction means Gilani could be disqualified as prime minister, but that's a process that could take up to four months.


Most observers had expected that a conviction would come without a prison sentence.


"They don¹t want to make a spectacle out of it," the columnist and analyst Muhammad Malick said earlier this week. "A prison sentence would create an unnecessary political drama. 

"Time in prison would create a wave of sympathy for the prime minister, and that's something the judges don't want to see," said author and political analyst Imtiaz Gul.