Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday reiterated to launch a movement for 'restoration of justice' in the country. Talking to media persons on the premises of the Accountability Court, the former prime minister said that he would start the movement against 'double standard of justice' with an aim to ensure provision of justice to every citizen.
"We will not accept such a double standard of justice," he said, adding that double standard of justice can be judged from the fact that a person (Imran Khan) who himself admitted his assets was not disqualified, while a person (Nawaz Sharif) who was not involved in any illegality had been removed from premiership. In such a situation neither this country nor this system can run so the PML-N will also not accept it, he said.
He said that his imaginary income was portrayed as his asset, whereas he (Khan) had himself admitted his assets, yet it was said he does not have those assets. "Such double standard shows the murder of justice and now this will not happen," he said, adding that they are not mad and foolish to accept such a decision.
Sharif said that neither he nor his party and the whole nation will accept such a decision. "We will remain steadfast in front of such a court's decision and take the matter to the people," he remarked.
Earlier, Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain Muhammad Safdar (retd) appeared before the Accountability Court in connection with three references filed against Sharif family by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
During the hearing, the court recorded the statements of three prosecutions witnesses including Yasir Bashir, operation manager of a private bank, in Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference, Shakeel Anjum Nagra, assistant director NAB, in Avenfield Properties reference and Afaq Ahmed, an official of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Flagship reference.
While recording his statement, prosecution witness Yasir Bashir informed the court that he had provided the details about the bank accounts of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz to the NAB and had also recorded his statement. "I provided attested copies of all documents to the NAB," he said. Bashir said that there were no discrepancies found in Maryam's bank details and that the bank never received any complaint about her account.
He said that Rs 59 million were transferred from Nawaz Sharif's Hill Metal Jeddah account to bank account of Maryam Safdar through four different transactions. The witness also submitted bank statements of Nawaz Sharif from February 12, 2010 to June 30, 2017 to the court. While cross-examining the witness, Sharif's counsel Khawaja Haris said the witness did not submit certified copies of documents which are not acceptable under the law of evidence. On this, the witness said that he provided attested copies to the NAB. Haris further said that the documents were not prepared by the witness.
Another witness Afaq Ahmed, an official of Ministry of Foreign Affairs while recording his statement in Avenfield properties, informed the court about the letter written by the Qatari Prince Hamad Bin Jasim to Wajid Zia, the head of joint investigation team (JIT) that probed Panama Papers case. On May 28, 2017 Abdul Hamid Abur Rasheed Albareda, secretary of the Qatari prince, came to Pakistan Embassy and handed over the letter of Qatari prince to embassy officials.
The letter was forwarded to the JIT chief on May 30, 2017, he said adding that on May 31, 2017 the JIT wrote a letter to the secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and summoned him. He said that following the directions of secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he appeared before the JIT on June 1, 2017. Sharif's counsel, while cross-examining the witness objected to the documents presented by the witness. Haris said that the letter had been written to the secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs and not to the witness.
Third production witness Shakeel Anjum Nagra told the court that on August 10, 2017, he submitted an application to registrar Supreme Court for provision of certified copies of the JIT report and the registrar office provided copies of the report on August 17, 2017 to the NAB. He forwarded the JIT report to NAB Lahore on the day he received it. On August 25, 2017 he recorded statement before the NAB investigation officer, he said.
While cross-examining the witness, Haris said that the copies of JIT report are not verified as per the existing law and there is no date and details about the person who attested the documents. The court after recording the statements and cross-examination adjourned the hearing of the case till January 3 and summoned more witnesses including Assistant Director NAB Lahore Zawar Manzoor and Inland Revenue officer Muhammad Taleem Khan on the next hearing.