Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said that filing of reference with respect to having assets beyond means against a politician shows that there is no corruption allegation against him or her.
Sharif while recording his statement in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) before Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Arshad Malik said when a reference regarding assets beyond means is filed against a politician, it means there is no corruption allegation against him/her. "I have been implicated in such a case and efforts have been made to link me to what I am connected in no way," he said.
He said that his case was based on assumptions and there was no evidence. The case was started from corruption of billions of rupees, money laundering and tax evasion but it ended with a flimsy case of having assets beyond means and even it is not proved yet.
Sharif further said that despite scanning his generations including the children and late elders, they did not find any evidence of corruption and kickback and money laundering against him during "this cruel and one-sided accountability processes."
"My late father had established an industry in 1973 and I had quit business 40 years ago. My children are responsible people and financially independent and are doing their businesses as per law of the countries where they are living," he said, adding that during whole investigation, the investigators did not point out any wrongdoing therefore he did not understand why he was linked with their (his sons') businesses.
Sharif said that during this whole accountability process, he sacrificed a lot. He suffered irreplaceable loss during this time but he did not back down. He said that prosecution witness Wajid Zia and NAB investigation officer had confessed in their testimonies that they had found no evidence in support of allegations levelled against him. Therefore, they did not succeed to link him with things to which he has no connection, he said.
When Sharif was asked if he would produce any evidence in his defence, he refused to do so. "I am not going to present my defence in this case. This case was formed against me on the basis of allegations levelled by my political opponents and one-sided report of the joint investigation team (JIT)," he said.
He said that the JIT report has wrongly showed him as the owner of Al-Azizia Steel Mill Company Limited (ASCL) and Hill Metals Establishment (HME). The Supreme Court bench was not fully satisfied with the JIT report. The top court sent the matter to the NAB for filing of reference, he said.
Sharif said that Zia and NAB investigation officer during their testimonies tried to implicate him in this case. There is no evidence to link him with the establishment of ASCL or HEM. "They could not prove that my sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz Sharif were under my guardianship at the time of establishment of ASCL," he said, adding that he did not send any money from Pakistan to his sons for their education, living or businesses as well as for ASCL.
He said that ASCL was established by his late father in 2001 and Hussain Nawaz was 29 years old at that time. From 2001 to 2005, he did not hold any public office, he said.
Sharif said that the money sent by son Hussain Nawaz was a token of love as per the social and religious customs. Hussain first began sending money in 2010 when he was not holding any public office, he said.
"Except Zia and NAB investigation officer, no other witness gave statement against me. Their statements are not acceptable testimonies, however, they had both accepted that they found no evidence that I owned ASCL and HME," he said.
He said that he is neither the real owner nor a benamidar of Al-Azizia Steel Mill or Hill Metal Establishment. The prosecution could not present any evidence against me in this regard," he added.
Sharif also presented a picture of General Yahya's visit to Ittefaq Foundry and requested the court to make it a part of the court record. "Those talking about owing assets beyond known sources of income should look at this picture. I am present in this picture," he said.
On this, the judge said that the picture will be made part of the court record after he (Sharif) provides date on which it had been published and the name of the newspaper that had published this picture. "Without date and name of newspaper, it could not be made part of court record," the judge added.
Talking to reporters informally inside the courtroom, Sharif asked why a parson who made Pakistan the 7th nuclear power is being treated like this. "If I had not conducted nuclear tests then India would have been the only nuclear power in South Asia," he said.
When he was asked about differences in his statements he made in the Avenfield case and Al-Azizia reference, he said it was due to differences in time. "I do not like to talk as I am still mourning the loss of my wife. It is not fair to make political statements at such a time," he said.
Replying to another question, Sharif said if he had been interested in national reconciliation order (NRO), he might not have gone straight to jail from London.
The court sought final arguments from prosecution and respondents in the Al-Azizia corruption reference as Sharif has completed statement under the section 342 of CrPC.
The court also conducted cross-examination of NAB investigation officer Muhammad Kamran in the Flagship reference. To a question asked by defence counsel Khawaja Haris, Kamran said that NAB did not issue any notice to Tariq Shafi for associating him with investigation. There was contradiction between the response of mutual legal assistance (MLA) request and Tariq Shafi's statement, he said.
The court adjourned hearing of the Flagship reference till today (Friday) and Haris will continue cross-examination of the witness.
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