ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad on Wednesday prepared a questionnaire for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia corruption reference.
A day earlier, the accountability ordered the prosecution to record the former prime minister’s statement during the next hearing of the case. The order had come after National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Wasiq Malik informed Judge Arshad Malik that the watchdog had completed presenting its evidence against the accused in the reference.
According to sources, Judge Malik has prepared the questionnaire and a copy of it has been forwarded to special prosecutor Akram Qureshi.
“Nawaz will be asked over 100 questions,” the sources added. The former premier will be sent a copy of the questionnaire soon on the basis of which he will record his final statement,” the sources further said.
The accountability court has until November 17 to wrap up the remaining two corruption references – Al-Azizia and Flagship Investments – against the Sharif family. The Supreme Court had granted a final extension to the court earlier this month, after its deadline to conclude the trials against the Sharifs had ended on October 7.
The trial against the Sharif family commenced on September 14, 2017.
On July 6, after four extensions in the original six-month deadline to conclude all three cases, the court announced its verdict in the Avenfield reference.
Nawaz and his sons, Hussain and Hasan, are accused in all three references whereas Maryam and Safdar were accused in the Avenfield reference only.
The two brothers, based abroad, have been absconding since the proceedings began last year and were declared proclaimed offenders by the court.