Sharif graft trial adjourned till November 7
Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday appeared before an anti-graft court which adjourned till November 7 the hearing of corruption cases against him, his daughter and son-in-law spiralling from the Panama Papers scandal.
Mr Sharif ’s daughter Maryam and her husband Muhammad Safdar also were present during Friday’s hearing.
At the start of the hearing, the defence asked the accountability judge to consider the verdict of the Islamabad high court, which on Thursday ordered the accountability court to hear again theplea that Mr Sharif’s three cases should be clubbed together.
The anti-graft court last month rejected an application by Sharif that since all three cases deal with assets beyond means, so they should be taken up as a single case.
The decision was challenged in the IHC which referred the case to the anti-graft with an order to re-hear it. However, the IHC did not issue detailed verdict and Mr Sharif’s lawyer asked the court to adjourn the hearing till a comprehensive judgement.
Later, Mr Sharif told the media that he was victimised.
He said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Asif Ai Zardari was pleasing “someone else’ by abusing him.
“I don’t have to say anything as the present situation and actions are in front of everyone,” he said. He asserted the PMLN struggled for the freedom of judiciary. “I am being punished for initiating China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), restoring peace in Karachi and overcoming load shedding,” he added.