Nawaz, Maryam get exemption from appearance in Avenfield case

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in the federal capital on Friday exempted former premier Nawaz Sharif, and his daughter Maryam Nawaz from personal appearance during today’s hearing into the Avenfield case. 

As Judge Muhammad Bashir resumed hearing of the case, the Sharif family’s lawyer informed the court that Sharif and his daughter couldn’t reach Islamabad owing to closure of roads in Lahore and the law enforcement agencies having advised them against travelling.

He pleaded that the duo should be given exemption from personal appearance. Sharif’s son-in-law Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar, however, is in attendance in the court.

The counsel for Maryam and Safdar,  Amjad Pervez, resumed cross-examination of prosecution witness Wajid Zia, the head of the Panama Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that probed the Sharif family’s offshore assets.

As per Avenfield Properties reference, Sharif, his brood and his son-in-law, retired Captain Mohammad Safdar, had purchased four flats in Park Lane, UK, without legitimate financial means.

After Nawaz’s counsel, Khawaja Haris, completed cross-examination of Zia on Wednesday, Pervez began grilling the key witness of the case.