The Accountability Court fixed June 5 for hearing final arguments in the Avenfield reference after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law Captain Muhammad Safdar (retd) completed his testimony on Wednesday. Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir fixed June 5 to hear final arguments in the Avenfield reference following completion of testimonies of three accused including Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Captain Muhammad Safdar (retd).
Deputy Prosecutor General National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi requested the court to fix a date for final arguments in the Avenfield reference after completion of Safdar's statement.
The defense counsel prayed the court that final arguments in the Avenfield reference be heard after conclusion of statements of prosecution witnesses in other two references, including the Al-Azizia Steel Mills and the Hill Metal Establishment and Flagship references field against the Sharif family.
However, the court fixed June 5 for hearing of final arguments.
Safdar while recording his statement under section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) said he will not produce any witness in his defense as the prosecution has failed to establish its case.
He said he and his wife have no relevance with Avenfield reference. He further said he and his wife have never been beneficial owners of the Avenfield properties and they have nothing to do with the properties. Nawaz Sharif's sons Hassan and Hussian Nawaz are responsible for their own deeds. No one can use their absconding against him, he added.
"The letter by Mossack Fonseca does not relate to me and it is not a primary document," he said, adding that this letter cannot be verified as per the law. When asked about the FZE certificate, he said that this question does not relate to him.
Safdar's counsel Amjad Pervaiz told the court that many of the business dealings occurred before Safdar's marriage with Maryam Nawaz. Replying to most of the questions, Safdar said those questions do not relate to him and in the end when asked if he wanted to add something, he insisted that he is innocent.
Abbasi also raised objections over the absence of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz, after which Pervez said that a plea for their exemption from appearance has been submitted into the court.
When Safdar was asked why this reference was filed against him, he said that like his wife he had been dragged into the case in order to exert pressure on him (Sharif).
He told the court that he had started his career as a commissioned officer of Pakistan Army and on August 6, 1990 he was transferred as ADC to the prime minister.
Safdar said that his father-in-law Nawaz Sharif's government was toppled first in 1993 by the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and then in 1999 by former Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf (retd).
He further said that during Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government in 1993, a fake first information report (FIR) had been registered under the supervision of the then Chief Minister Punjab Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo at Raiwind Police station against him. The FIR was aimed at pressurizing Sharif and was the beginning of political vendetta against them, he said.
Safdar further said that in 1997 elections, the PML-N got a two-third majority and conducted nuclear tests on May 28, 1998. The celebrations of conducting nuclear tests were still underway when former General Pervez Musharraf (retd) started his Kargil adventure, he said.
He said that Nawaz Sharif wisely saved the region from an imminent war but he could not save his own government as on October 12, 1999 Musharraf violated the Constitution and toppled an elected government. "Musharraf jailed then elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and newly appointed Chief of Army Staff Ziauddin Butt in order to escape the Kargil inquiry," he said, adding that he was arrested under section 3 of MPO (Maintenance of Public Order).
Safdar said that Musharraf had sent whole Sharif family including him on forced exile and also suspended him from his service. "I paid the price of being a relative of Sharif in every regime and I am paying this price even today and will continue to pay for it," he said.
Later, the court adjourned the hearing of the Avenfield reference till June 5 and summoned Wajid Zia to appear before the court on Thursday (today) for cross-examination by defense counsel Khawaja Haris in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills and the Hill Metal Establishment reference.