ISLAMABAD: Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and her husband retired Captain Mohammad Safdar were indicted by an accountability court in Islamabad on Thursday in connection with a reference pertaining to the Avenfield flats filed against them by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
All three accused pleaded not guilty to the charges. Sharif, who is currently in the United Kingdom, and his sons Hassan and Hussain are likely to be indicted in the other two references later on.
The court proceeded with the indictment of the trio after rejecting three applications filed by Sharif, Maryam and Safdar requesting suspension of the indictment.
The court indicted the Sharif family members in the London properties reference today even though Nawaz Sharif and lead defence counsel Khawaja Haris are both out of the country.
Since Nawaz Sharif and his lead defence counsel are abroad, the court indicted the former prime minister through pleader Zafir Khan, while the charges against Maryam and Safdar were framed in person.
The pleader, Zafir Khan, pleaded not guilty on Sharif’s behalf and read out a statement from him in court.
Meanwhile, Maryam has been charged with being the beneficial owner of the London flats and Capt Safdar being her accomplice in acquiring the apartments.
The accused were unsuccessful in showing the sources of income used to purchase the London flats, reads the indictment order.
The trial in Avenfield flats reference will start on October 26 and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s (SECP) joint registrar Sidra Mansoor will record her statement as the first witness in the case.
After initially reserving its verdict, the court rejected an application filed by Capt Safdar’s counsel Amjad Pervez seeking an adjournment of the indictment proceedings.
The application submitted today argued that Volume X of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report, filed on the directions of the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case, has not been provided to the defendant by the apex court.
It further argued that the statements given by three witnesses to the JIT had not been made public, hence the indictment of Maryam and Safdar should be postponed.
The NAB prosecution argued that Volume X of the JIT report had nothing to do with the indictment and urged the court to indict the accused today.
Meanwhile, the second lawyer from Nawaz Sharif’s legal team, Ayesha Hamid, filed an application in the accountability court seeking a delay in her client’s indictment.
The application urged the court to delay the indictment until the Supreme Court decides a petition filed by Sharif against the filing of multiple corruption references against him by NAB. The court rejected this application as well.
A third application filed by Nawaz Sharif’s counsel, seeking a merger of the three references filed against him, was also rejected.
Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir was set to indict Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Capt Safdar on Oct 13. However, after a violent clash between the lawyers and police for not permitting the former into the premises of the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC), the court deferred the indictment until today.
