Nawaz Sharif on Panama Papers: There’s no proof of any wrongdoing
Pakistan’s ousted premier Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday he was disqualified by the Supreme Court on flimsy grounds as there was no proof of wrongdoing by him, after he appeared in an anti-graft court trying him for alleged corruption.
Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar Hussain appeared in the accountability court in Islamabad shortly after he returned to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia, ending speculation that he could go into self-exile. Speaking to the media after the hearing, Sharif said, “They have not been able to prove any crime against me yet.”
Sharif, 67, said he was disqualified on flimsy grounds and said efforts were on to find “evidence of any wrongdoing by me”. The Sharif family says the cases are politically motivated.
The cases are related to the Panama Papers leaks that resulted in the ouster of the threetime prime minister after the Supreme Court launched an investigation into the issue. The accountability court began hearing the cases in September after the apex court ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to probe the corruption allegations.
Sharif protested against frequent summons by the court and said opposition leader Imran Khan had accepted he had committed fraud but “was declared ‘sadiq’ (truthful) and ‘ameen’ (honest) while no evidence has been found against me”.
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