ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law MNA Capt (retd) Safdar were indicted in the Avenfield properties case on Thursday.
The accountability court hearing corruption cases against the Sharif family indicted the three accused after dismissing their separate pleas to suspend proceedings and halt their indictment.
After initially reserving its verdict, the court rejected an application filed by Capt Safdar’s counsel Amjad Pervez seeking an adjournment of the indictment proceedings.
The application submitted today argued that Volume X of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report, filed on the directions of the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case, has not been provided to the defendant by the apex court.
It further argued that the statements given by three witnesses to the JIT had not been made public, hence the indictment of Maryam and Safdar should be postponed.
Nawaz, through his representative Zafir Khan, Maryam and Safdar rejected the charges by pleading ‘not guilty’ and vowed to contest the case.
The charges state that the 2006 trust deed of the London properties is fake as it used the Calibri font before it was made publicly available. The hearing of the Avenfield properties case was then adjourned until October 26.
Earlier, during the hearing of references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case, Nawaz’s counsel, Ayesha Hamid, pleaded the court to suspend proceedings until the Supreme Court decides on her client’s plea regarding the re-filing of references.
Similarly, Maryam and MNA Capt (retd) Safdar’s counsel, Amjad Pervez, argued before Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir that his clients were not provided with the complete documents of the case and thus the indictment process should be halted.
However, the judge dismissed both pleas after which Nawaz filed another plea requesting the court to combine the three references but that too was dismissed.
Maryam Nawaz while talking to reporters outside the accountability court said one day there would be accountability of the accountability process her family is going through.
“Injustice and atrocities cannot continue together,” she said.
Maryam said her party is still united despite the differences of opinion. She said the government is an institution which should be respected. “Each institution should do its job.”
The NAB prosecution argued that Volume X of the JIT report had nothing to do with the indictment and urged the court to indict the accused. INP