Pakistan's Supreme Court yesterday set aside corruption convictions against the former prime minister, Ms Benazir Bhutto, and her husband, Mr Asif Ali Zardari, and ordered a retrial.
Ms Bhutto, who is living abroad in self-exile, and Mr Zardari, jailed in Pakistan since 1996 on other charges, had appealed against a 1999 conviction by a special Accountability Court that sentenced them to five years in jail and fined them $8.6 million for accepting kickbacks from a Swiss firm.
The couple were also disqualified from holding public office.
"We accept the titled appeal [by Bhutto], set aside the judgment and ordered a retrial of the case by a competent court," Judge Bashir Jehangiri said in a one-sentence order.
Ms Bhutto said in London that a big hurdle to her return to Pakistan had been removed by the judgment and that she would now discuss the date with her colleagues.
"I am planning to call my colleagues over for a consultation as to setting the date [for my return]. One big hurdle to my return has been removed, and it's important for me to go back and be part of the democratic process in my country," Ms Bhutto said.
Mr Raja Muhammad Bashir, prosecutor-general for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the government's white collar crime-fighting agency, said he respected the judgment.
Ms Bhutto's lawyer, Mr Farooq Hameed Naik, said he was satisfied but would have been happier if the couple had been acquitted by the seven-member bench of the Supreme Court, which had heard daily arguments since February 26th.
Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) hailed the decision as historic and said it vindicated her and her supporters but demanded the immediate release of Mr Zardari, in jail since Ms Bhutto's government was dismissed late in 1996.