In a corruption case involving his own niece, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, is accused by a rival politician of having appointed the state prosecutor. The assertion is untrue.
Claim
A senior PTI member and former information minister named Fawad Hussain Chaudhry tweeted on September 20 that the prosecutor the prime minister had assigned was uncertain whether he was representing the NAB or the accused in the corruption case being heard in the Islamabad High Court against politician Maryam Nawaz Sharif.
The prosecutor in question is Usman Rasheed Cheema, a barrister.
Fact In 2020, when Chaudhry’s own political party, the PTI, was in power, barrister Usman Rasheed Cheema was chosen to serve as the anti-corruption body’s prosecutor.
The attorney initially represented the NAB in a money laundering case involving Shehbaz Sharif and his family.
In response to Maryam Sharif’s appeal of her conviction in the Avenfield flats case, the NAB designated Cheema main counsel and the leader of a five-member prosecution team in July 2021, according to a notification obtained by Geo Fact Check.
Cheema has been appointed as the case’s attorney. Since 2020, he has not been either de-notified or re-appointed.
Contrary to what Fawad Chaudhry claims, Shehbaz did not assign Barrister Cheema.
