JIT report unacceptable as evidence, Maryam says in court

ISLAMABAD: The joint investigation team and its report are irrelevant in the case of Avenfield properties, said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz while recording her statement in the accountability court on Thursday.

During the hearing, Maryam told the court that report prepared by the JIT is an investigative document, which was unacceptable as an evidence.

Maryam said the Supreme Court ordered references be filed in light of the evidence presented by the JIT, but did not ask the JIT report to be made part of any reference as an evidence.

Maryam was of the view that the references filed over the JIT report cannot be presented as evidence.

While raising concerns over the members of JIT, Maryam said the appointment of Irfan Mangi as director general of Natonal Accountability Bureau was still under hearing at Supreme Court but he was made part of the investigation team regardless.

About the inclusion of Amer Aziz from State Bank of Pakistan in JIT, Maryam said he was close to the military dictator, General (retd) Pervez Musharraf. She added that Musharraf got Aziz appointed in NAB as the banking director in 2000.

Maryam also expressed reservation over the inclusion of Brigadier Noman Saeed, saying he was not working in Inter-Services Intelligence at the time of his appointment in JIT. The brigadier was outsourced as his salary was also not being shown on government records, she added.

Besides, Maryam said, according to her information Brigadier Saeed was also part of the Dawn Leaks enquiry committee.

However, she was of the view that ISI and Military Intelligence officials should not have been made party of the JIT.

Maryam reads out commas, full stops from statement in court

Maryam even read out commas and full stops from a document while recording her statement on Avenfield properties reference in the accountability court.

During the proceedings, accountability judge Mohammad Bashir asked Maryam to not go in the grammatical details of her statement, to which the latter said her counsel asked her to do so. 

Maryam has nothing to do with these cases: Nawaz

The cases over which Maryam Nawaz has been asked to appear before the accountability court belong to a time when she was not into politics, said her father and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

While talking to journalists on Thursday, Nawaz expressed disappointment over Maryam being called to the court to give statements on references against the Sharif family. He said the matter has come down to a situation where a daughter has to go through trial in front of her father.

“My daughter has nothing to do with the references,” he said. “ She was not in politics during the 1990s.”

Nawaz was of the view that calling Maryam to the court was a shallow trend that was being set. “Whoever has set this trend will have to pay a price.”

Avenfield properties reference 

Maryam was recording her statement in the Avenfield reference, pertaining to the Sharif family's London properties. It is among three filed against the Sharif family by NAB last year on the Supreme Court's directives.

The members of Sharif family, including Nawaz , Maryam, and Captain (retd) Safdar, were appearing before the court of Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir. 

Nawaz has already recorded his statement in the case. During the last three days, He denied any involvement in the Avenfield properties, any business dealings with the Qatari family, Dubai Steel Mills and Capital FZE.

The former premier also criticised the members chosen to become members of the Joint Investigation Team, which was formed upon Supreme Court’s orders to investigate his assets.

On Wednesday’s hearing, the former premier remarked that challenges and pressure against him increased as soon as the treason case was initiated against former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

The former premier said that once the proceedings started against Musharraf he had gauged that it would be hard to get the former military ruler convicted. "All the weapons are made for politicians," Nawaz remarked.

Nawaz, while recording his statement in the last five of the 128 questions asked by the accountability court, said that an intelligence agency officer had conveyed to him that he should resign or he would be sent on an extended leave.

"The purpose of the message was to question how dare I initiate an inquiry against Musharraf," Nawaz said. The three-time premier also remarked that he was asked to make the parliament endorse the second martial law by Musharraf. "The message was conveyed to me by Asif Ali Zardari. However, I refused to do it.”

This is the conclusion of my actual crime, he added.