Sharif, daughter get court exemption
islamabad — A Pakistani judge has exempted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from attending his corruption trial so that he could visit his wife as she undergoes cancer treatment in London.
The temporary exemption granted by the anti-graft court in Islamabad also applies to Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Safdar, a codefendant in the case.
Sharif’s lawyer Amjad Pervez said the exemption for Sharif is for one week only but a month for his daughter.
Sharif, his daughter and her husband Capt. Safdar, appeared in court for Wednesday’s hearing in the trial on corruption charges stemming from documents leaked from a Panamanian law firm.
However, the judge declared Sharif ’s two sons — also charged in the same case — as “offenders” for failing to appear in court.
Sharif said that he wanted to go to London to visit his ailing wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, who is in London for cancer treatment.
In her application, Maryam said that she will attend the hearing whenever the court will summon her. She said that her legal representative, Jahangir Jadoon, will appear in the court in case she has to go abroad.
Khawaja Haris, counsel of former prime minister, cross examined two prosecution witnesses. Four witnesses have been summoned for the next hearing.
The court officially began hearing of the NAB references to record statements from witnesses
accountability is being controlled by someone else and we are only being punished. This is not accountability but a revenge. Nawaz Sharif, ousted prime minister
including Securities and Exchange Commission Pakistan (SECP) officer Sidra Mansur and Federal Bureau Revenue’s Jahangir Ahmad.
The trial is presided by Justice Muhammad Bashir. As trial proceedings began, Sidra Mansur, Deputy Registrar of Companies, SECP, recorded her statement in the Avenfield flats reference. The witness informed the judge that she appeared before the NAB Lahore team on August 18 and furnished all required documents regarding various business of Sharifs. In an informal chat with media persons outside the court, the former prime minister said there should be no double standards in dispensation of justice. He hoped that their struggle would lead to logical conclusion.
To a question, he hoped the trial would be fair. “Accountability is being controlled by someone else and we are only being punished. This is not accountability but a revenge,” he said without elaborating. — Agencies