Pak PM Sharif grilled by probe panel for 3 hrs
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister on Thursday denied allegations of corruption and money laundering during a nearly threehour appearance before a Supreme Court-appointed team investigating his family’s offshore companies.
Nawaz Sharif’s appearance before the panel at the Judicial Academy took place amid tight security after Sharif, his daughter, one of his sons and a younger brother arrived at the complex.
“My government, my family and I presented ourselves for accountability. There was neither any stain of corruption on us in the past and nor will there be any such charge against us in future,” Sharif told reporters after the hearing. He said the allegations concern only his family’s personal and private business and not government corruption.
His younger brother Shahbaz Sharif is to appear before the panel next week. Sharif said he and his family would prove their innocence before the panel, which will submit its report to the Supreme Court. He said he looked forward to the court’s final ver- dict but that he was ready to face a “bigger court of 200 million people” next year, when parliamentary elections will be held.
Sharif, who has previously denied allegations of abusing his authority to enrich himself, has been under pressure from political opponents to resign in the wake of reports based on documents leaked from a Panamabased law firm that indicated his sons owned offshore companies.
The panel probing the Sharif family holdings comprises senior investigators and representatives from the country’s two powerful spy agencies — the InterServices Intelligence and Military Intelligence.