Pak SC convicts Gilani of contempt

Pakistan’s Supreme Court convicted the prime minister of contempt on Thursday but handed him a symbolic sentence of less than a minute’s detention,allowing him to leave the building surrounded by cheering supporters and still in power.

The ruling against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani triggered renewed political turmoil and could lead to his dismissal. Gilani was charged with contempt for his refusal to pursue a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari. “The PM has not been convicted of any moral crime. No one needs to give us a lesson in morality,’’ said Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira,adding that the verdict would be appealed.

A seven-judge panel found him guilty of contempt and sentenced him to prison “until the rising of the court’’. That happened about a minute after the verdict.

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Gilani told the media: “We had sought justice. The decision wasn’t appropriate.”

The parliamentary speaker and election commission must now decide whether the conviction is reason to dismiss Gilani as prime minister,a procedure outlined in the constitution but one that could take up to four months and be contested legally every step of the way.

Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif said Gilani’s conviction meant he should resign. “He would be insulting the Parliament by continuing,’’ he said. with PTI inputs