The Pakistan government yesterday failed in its attempt to get the Lahore High Court to frame formal corruption charges against the former prime minister, Ms Benazir Bhutto.
Her lawyers managed to get the case postponed until August 20th but privately they concede that, eventually, a full trial is inevitable. Government officials are frustrated by the latest delay but they insist that the legal net is tightening around the Bhuttos.
Last week the government's chief corruption investigator, Senator Saif Ur Rehman, received a batch of 760 documents from the Swiss authorities. He says he expects Ms Bhutto's trials to begin in the next few weeks.
Ms Bhutto gave a typically defiant performance in the Lahore High Court, haranguing the two judges and accusing them of bias. "You were the law minister under Nawaz Sharif [the current Prime Minister]," she sniped at one, "we all know what you will do."
Ms Bhutto has long maintained that the authorities are hand-picking hostile judges to hear the cases against her.
Ms Bhutto's husband, Mr Asif Zardari - also accused of corruption - sat by her in court. Mr Zardari has been jailed on charges relating to the murder of Benazir Bhutto's brother.
Earlier, as Ms Bhutto arrived at the court a few hundred supporters were present to cheer her. Senior officials in the Pakistan People's Party say its supporters will "go out on to the streets and fight" if she is arrested.