PKONWEB — Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former Premier Nawaz Sharif, said Saturday that the judge who convicted her father in corruption cases had been forced to give verdict against Sharif.
Maryam played a video clip at a presser in Lahore, along with Shehbaz Sharif, president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and opposition leader in the National Assembly, and former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
In the alleged video clip of Judge Arshad Malik, “[he] says that some individuals called him for a cup of tea during the hearing of case against Nawaz Sharif and showed him his old personal video and than put their demand on how to deal with Sharif,” she told the presser.
Maryam claimed that Malik sent his message through his friend to her family and said he doesn’t feel easy after convicting Sharif.
She also alleged that the judge even accepted that Sharif was innocent and no allegation proved against him.
The convicted ex-PM’s daughter asserted that the judge who had announced the verdict against Nawaz Sharif has now declared him innocent.
“Now, if he [Nawaz] remains in jail even for a minute, then this will be a great injustice not only with the three-time premier but with the people of this country,” she added.
She accused Khan-led government of ‘plotting’ against PML-N and claimed that she has evidence against anyone who denies her claims.
On Dec. 24, the accountability court judge Malik sentenced Sharif to seven years in jail after 15-month legal process in the corruption cases, popularly known as Al Azizia Steel Mills.
Sharif is currently serving prison term in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.
“The judge revealed in his video that his life was made unbearable and forced him for the verdict against Sharif,” Maryam further asserted.
She vowed to defend his father, saying: “I will not make Nawaz Sharif another Mohamad Morsi, [late Egyptian president dying during a court hearing last month].”
Sharifs’ explosive presser and the alleged video comes days after the State and the government ended assets declaration amnesty on July 3rd, and announced those remaining undeclared stand confiscated. PM Khan also announced 10% reward for benami properties’ informers.
Days earlier, Khan had said both Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari (former president and PPP leader) could pay restitution (enter plea bargain) and leave the country.
The former president is in NAB custody on charges of money laundering and multibillion rupees fake accounts case.
Shehbaz’s son Hamza is in custody on 14-day remand. Both father and son has been directed by court to appear on July 20 in Ramzan Sugar Mills case.
Meanwhile, the government rejected Maryam’s claims and announced a forensic audit of the videos clips in question.
“We never dictated any judge, judiciary is independent in our country and we will carry a forensic audit of the video clips showed by Maryam Nawaz,” Firdous Ashiq Awan, special adviser to PM for information, told reporters in Islamabad.
Maryam had made an absurd attempt to gain public sympathy through an audio/video tape, Firdous said.
Addressing a press conference along with traders’ representatives at a local hotel, she said during the PML-N press conference today, Shehbaz Sharif looked like a gambler who had lost every thing. It seemed that a coup had occurred in PML-N and the niece had cornered his uncle, she added.
Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz’s younger brother and three-time chief minister of Punjab, the country’s most populous province, and his son Hamza Shehbaz, who is also the opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, are also facing inquiries in connection with multiple corruption cases in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Shehbaz who was arrested in last October is now out on bail while his son is still in the NAB custody. Both have been indicted in Ramzan Sugar Mills case.
Sharif’s close aide and former finance minister Ishaq Dar who has been declared absconder by the court in corruption case, could be extradited back to Pakistan from UK within the next 15 days, Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has claimed.
“Hassan and Hussain Nawaz will not return… only Ishaq Dar will be extradited… it could happen before my next presser, which is scheduled in two weeks,” he said.
Hassan and Hussain, Sharif’s two sons are living in London. Both claim they are not governed by Pakistani law being naturalized foreign citizens of Pakistan origin.
