NAB references: Nawaz Sharif appears before AC

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has on Tuesday appeared before the accountability court (AC) in mega corruption references filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in line with the Supreme Court directive in the Panamagate case. Nawaz Sharif was accompanied by his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar to contest the corruption case filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The accountability court (AC) judge Muhammad Bashir resumed hearing of the three corruption references against the Sharif family. Nawaz Sharif has appeared before the court for the seventh time. Stringent security arrangements have been made on the occasion, while several party leaders including Talal Chaudhry, Daniyal Aziz and Asif Kirmani and hundreds of workers were also present outside the court. In the previous hearing, four more witnesses recorded their statements after two witnesses recorded their statements at the last hearing and were cross-examined. Khawaja Harris, the counsel of the former premier cross-examined three witnesses. Previously, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed three cases of corruption and money laundering against Sharif, his family members and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the Islamabad Accountability Court following the verdict. The anti-graft body NAB had frozen the bank accounts and seized properties of Sharif and his family members to put pressure on them to appear before the court. The Sharifs have denied any wrongdoing and have labelled the corruption proceedings against them as politically motivated. Two of Nawaz’s sons are also due to appear before the NAB court, along with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. Nawaz was disqualified by the Supreme Court in July for not declaring a source of income that he disputes receiving. Pakistan’s top court also ordered a wide-ranging NAB investigation and trial into Sharif family members. The Supreme Court specified that the trial be concluded within six months by NAB, which has in the past been derided as toothless because rich and powerful politicians were seldom convicted.