Sharif appears before accountability court in Pakistan

Islamabad: Pakistan’s ousted premier Nawaz Sharif today appeared before an accountability court here to face the corruption charges filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau in the Panama Papers scandal. Sharif along with his daughter Maryam Sharif and son-in- law Muhammad Safdar directly went to the Accountability Court here after arriving from Lahore in a private jet.

Sharif, 67, came back from London on Sunday where he had gone with his daughter Maryam to see his ailing wife who is undergoing treatment for throat cancer there. Judge Muhammad Bashir will conduct the trial proceedings and record testimonies of more prosecution witnesses.

NAB is expected to present three more witnesses in the court to have their statements recorded. So far, eight witnesses have testified against the Sharif family in three references. The three references against the Sharif family are related to the Al-Azizia Company and Hill Metal Establishment, Flagship Investment Ltd and the Avenfield (London) properties.

Sharif and his sons, Hassan and Hussain, have been named in all three NAB references, while Maryam and husband Safdar have been named only in the Avenfield reference. Last month, Sharif was indicted in all three cases while his daughter Maryam and her husband Muhammad Safdar, co- accused with Sharif in only one case, were also indicted along with Sharif.

Sharif s sons Hassan and Hussian have failed to appear in the court despite repeated summons. It promoted the court to separate their cases. Heavy security arrangements were made around the court premises.

The cases are based on July 28 verdict by the Supreme Court which disqualified Sharif and ordered to launch three corruption cases against him and his family, and one case against finance minister Ishaq Dar.