Premier makes History: A 30 second "symbolic" punishment

For those who are sort of confused about what is actually happening in Pakistan and the whole issue about the PM being convicted in the contempt of the court case… The Prime Minster was ordered by the Supreme Court to write a letter to the Swiss courts, asking them to re-open and review the money laundering cases against President Zardari. The PM refused because once Zardari swore as the president, he had immunity to all those cases against him, under NRO. In 2009, the Supreme Court called the NRO unconstitutional and said that President was no longer immune. It is in the constitution of Pakistan that if a President is immune, then nothing can be charged against him even if it is the order of the court. But according to the courts, Zardari no longer has any immunity and PM has disobeyed the orders of the court (contempt of the court) by not writing a letter to the Swiss government/courts. PM Gillani agreed to fight this case with his lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan and has been appearing before the court for several months. Today, the courts found PM Gillani guilty (for unknown reasons) for his contempt of the court and is convicted in the case. As he is convicted, he cannot stand in elections for the next five years and may lose his Premiership though according to some resources he will still remain the Prime Minster for some time. Instead of a jail term, Gilani was given a 30 second "symbolic" punishment. Gilani is the longest-serving prime minister in the history of Pakistan and even though there has been a lot of criticism against him, he respected the courts and appeared in front of them, unlike previous governments (especially mushy’s) who would sack the Chief Justice if they were convicted of something (in mushy's case, re-electing himself as the President).