Nawaz, Maryam appear before accountability court for graft trial

ISLAMABAD: Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (retd) Safdar appeared before an accountability court on Tuesday in the federal capital for trial proceedings in corruption references filed against them by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Sharif along with his daughter arrived at Islamabad airport from Lahore on Tuesday morning and went to the Punjab House amid tight security.

Later, they arrived at the court to face trial in the cases filed against them in compliance with the Supreme Court July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers.

Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir recorded the statements of two more witnesses, Ghulam Mustafa and Yasir Shabber.

Meanwhile, Khawaja Harris, the counsel for the Sharif family, sought time to go through a supplementary reference filed against the former premier and members of his family in the London properties case.

The hearing was adjourned till Jan 30.

At the previous hearing, two prosecution witnesses recorded their statements, while another witness, Afaq Ahmed, could not testify because of the absence of original record of the Panama Papers case and the JIT report.

NAB officials told the judge that they have not yet received the record from the apex court.

On January 09, four witnesses had recorded their statements and were cross-examined by defence lawyer Khawaja Harris.

Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) joint registrar Sidra Mansoor testified that Hussain Nawaz, the former premier’s elder son, owned 487,400 shares in Mehran Ramzan Textile Mills Ltd, which were later transferred to the Sharif family’s trust.

Harris objected that the witness had presented details and documents which were irrelevant to the organizations involved in the references.

When asked, she informed that she was not aware of the records pertaining to Al Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment.

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Inland Revenue Department officer, Tasneem Khan and Muhammad Zubair, an officer of a private bank, were among those who recorded statements at the last hearing.