Judge Malik video case ends with acquittal of main character Mian Saleem Raza

LONDON: Mian Saleem Raza, the central character of Judge Arshad Malik video scandal, has been acquitted by the District and Sessions Judge Cyber Crime Islamabad after a trial nearly six years following the fateful meeting of the late judge with the PML-N loyalist in Lahore — which changed the shape of recent Pakistani political power play.

On Thursday, Additional District and Session Judge Islamabad Adnan Rasool Larak acquitted Raza and others, including Raza Khan, Mian Tariq (late), Nadir Khan, Nasir Mahmood and Hamza Butt in the Judge Arshad Malik video scandal case.

Raza, who was placed on the list of most wanted terrorists, was accused by the FIA of laying the foundations of the Malik video scandal, of blackmailing him using the judge’s controversial video, to get a confession out of the judge that he convicted Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference in 2018 under pressure from the then-establishment of former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa and Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid in 2018 ahead of the general elections, which the PTI won.

He was also accused of making a payment of Rs20 million to Mian Tariq to buy the video and also giving a land cruiser as bribe to the judge.

There were many who played a role in the video scandal but it was Raza, from London, who laid the foundations of what changed the fortunes of Nawaz and his family.

He is now cleared of all the allegations made by the FIA against him — blackmailing and entrapment of the judge through Tariq and making corrupt payments to win favours for Nawaz.

Not many people are aware that it was Raza with whom the late accountability judge started meeting in secret in order to send messages of apology and remorse to Nawaz, who was in jail at the time after being convicted by the same judge, and visited his Lahore home with Tariq, the man accused of filming the judge in a controversial position nearly two decades ago when he was a Multan court judge.

It was much later that Nasir Mehmood filmed the judge making a confession. The original FIA case had accused Raza of buying out the immoral video of the former accountability court judge for Rs20 million from Tariq and for leading the entrapment of the judge.

When Maryam Nawaz held a press conference on July 6, 2019, in Lahore to release the judge’s video, filmed secretly by Mehmood, the first target of the FIA and the police was Raza, who raided his house with the offers of bribes and threats to ruin his life — that he should become a witness against Nawaz and Maryam for the state.

Raza promised to cooperate with the FIA and sought a day or so. On July 9, 2019, instead of turning against Nawaz, he fled Lahore for Karachi and from there left the country via Thailand, the first flight available out of Karachi, and spent four years in exile in Europe and London. He returned to Pakistan at the end of 2022.

After his acquittal, Raza shared his full story of how the state acted against him and ruined his businesses and family life; how the PMLN treated him and what happened when a person close to ex-spy chief Faiz met him in London, to turn against Nawaz.

Raza said: "I definitely met Judge Arshad Malik a few times in secrecy but not in the way FIA presented it to be. The judge was introduced to me by Mian Tariq who knew that I visited Kot Lakhpat jail to meet Nawaz Sharif and that I had been his loyalist for a long time.

Mian Tariq called me one day and said someone from the judiciary wants to meet me. He then came to my house in Lahore’s Dherem Pura on July 1, 2019 without any appointment at 9pm and there was a government number plated vehicle with him. The judicial officer was Judge Arshad Malik."

He added: "The judge asked me to convey his regret and sorrow to Nawaz Sharif for convicting him. He said categorically that he had convicted Nawaz Sharif on the orders of General Faiz and General Bajwa.

The judge told me that former chief justice Saqib Nisar had appointed Justice Ijazul Ahsan on me; both of them called me directly and asked to convict Nawaz Sharif at any cost. Judge Malik asked me to tell Nawaz Sharif to forgive him."

The judge said he was prepared to do a press conference to seek forgiveness from Nawaz for wrongly convicting him.

Raza said he met Nawaz a few days later and told him about his meeting with the judge and Tariq and whether Nawaz had any message for the judge.

"Nawaz Sharif told me he has left his matter to Allah and had every faith Allah will do justice to him. He asked me never to discuss this matter with him again."

The FIA alleged it was Raza who gave the judge Rs20 million in cash, a land-cruiser (still with FIA) and a cheque of Rs10 million which bounced. Raza says the FIA failed to prove during the investigation and the trial that he had made any payments to the judge or that the cruiser was in his name. “It was established before the court that there is no evidence against me of blackmailing or any other illegality,” he said.

He shared that as soon as Maryam finished her press conference, around five vehicles arrived outside his house. The FIA officials as well as from other departments asked Raza, straight away, to tell them about the judge’s video, his meetings and what was the plot; then they asked him to cooperate with the investigation, do a press conference that Nawaz and Maryam had asked him to blackmail the judge and pay him.

The officials offered Raza several benefits — including money in the tens of millions, position and a guaranteed future lawmaker position — for turning on Nawaz.

“These officials were sent by General Faiz and Shahzad Akbar. One of the officers got me to speak to Shehzad Akbar who told me that I will be looked after very well if I turn against Nawaz Sharif and his daughter. He told me to say that I bought the video at Nawaz Sharif’s behest. Then the officials issued threats to me.”

Then, Raza fled to London where he spent the next four years. In October 2019, he said a close associate of Faiz and Bajwa met him and repeated the original offer of turning against Nawaz as a witness and getting rewards for doing so.

"I told the official I cannot lie about Nawaz Sharif because he had no connection of any kind with Judge Arshad Malik’s video scandals. I told him I cannot become a witness based on lies."

What happened after Raza’s refusal is a scary tale. "I was told that I will be added to the list of most wanted terrorists and my life will be made difficult inside and outside of Pakistan.

That’s exactly what happened when my name was added to the terrorism list in mid-November 2019 by the FIA, amongst the most wanted terrorists in Pakistan, amongst people associated with Daesh, Al-Qaeda and violent militant terror groups."

He said: "My home was ransacked, jewellery and expensive items stolen, three properties seized, social welfare work shut down, businesses employing over 80 people completely destroyed. My sister passed away when I was in London and I was unable to lower her in the grave. My close relatives passed away in my absence. My children were thrown out of schools and their education was disrupted. This was a nightmare."

He has, however, no regrets. Raza said: "I am finally acquitted and back with my family. I did everything for my leader Nawaz Sharif who faced extreme hardships in that period. I have no regrets and given the opportunity I will take a stand for my leader again in the same way."

"Tariq called me in London and apologised for making a false statement to me that he had sold out the immoral video of the former accountability court judge to me for Rs20 million."

"[Tariq] said he was brutally tortured and forced to make a confessional statement against me. Nobody remembers today that Tariq Malik was tortured so much and for so long in custody that he later on died."

Back in Pakistan now, Raza intends to rebuild his life from the scratch in a completely alien state of affairs.

Raza is no longer part of the active PML-N politics. "I have several secrets in my heart. I am disappointed at a lot of things that have happened in the last three years. It's best to live like a recluse. Many of my dreams are shattered. I never imagined this is how things would turn out to be."