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  • Accountability court indicts Nawaz, Maryam and Safdar in graft references

    Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law MNA Capt (retd) Safdar File photo Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law MNA Capt (retd) Safdar

    Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law MNA Capt (retd) Safdar were indicted in the Avenfield properties case on Thursday.

    The accountability court hearing corruption cases against the Sharif family indicted the three accused after dismissing pleas of the former premier, Maryam and Safdar to suspend proceedings and halt their indictment.

    Furthermore, Nawaz is expected to be indicted in the two other references against him after Maryam and Safdar leave the court.

    During the hearing of references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in light of the Supreme Court's July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's counsel, Ayesha Hamid, pleaded the court to suspend proceedings until the Supreme Court decides on her client's plea regarding the re-filing of references.

    Similarly, Maryam and MNA Capt (retd) Safdar's counsel, Amjad Pervez, argued before Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir that his clients were not provided with the complete documents of the case and thus the indictment process should be halted.

    However, the judge dismissed both pleas after which Nawaz filed another plea requesting the court to combine the three references

    Nawaz, Maryam and Safdar were expected to be indicted today.

    Though Nawaz is in London at the moment, he is still likely to be indicted as his legal representative will hear the charges against him.

    Hearing begins

    Maryam reached the Federal Judicial Complex from the Islamabad airport where she landed early morning from Lahore on a special plane.

    Later, Safdar separately reached the court complex.

    Speaking to the media while entering the court, Safdar said Nawaz will appear before the court [when the time comes].

    Senior government officials, including ministers, are present at the court premises, where strict security arrangements are in place to avoid any untoward incident.

    A number of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders and workers were also present today outside the court complex. They also protested after police did not allow them to enter the premises.

    Moreover, Zafir Khan, who was nominated by the former premier's legal team as the "pleader" — the person who will stand for Nawaz in court during his indictment — is also present in the hearing.

    However, Nawaz's lead counsel, Khawaja Harris, is not present in court and is being represented by Hamid.

    As the hearing went under way, Pervez, who represents the Sharif children, pleaded that his clients not be indicted until they are provided complete documents of the case.

    Pervez argued that his clients have also not been provided Volume X of Panama case JIT report.

    However, the NAB prosecutor opposed the plea, after which the judge went into a recess. He is expected to decide on the plea later today.

    As the hearing resumed, Nawaz's counsel, Hamid, pleaded that until the Supreme Court decides on Nawaz’s plea for NAB to re-file a single corruption reference instead of three separate ones, the proceedings of the accountability court be suspended.

    The judge then reserved his decision on Hamid's plea as well. Giving his ruling later, the judge dismissed both pleas of the Sharif family.

    Nawaz files another plea

    Later, Nawaz's counsel filed another plea in the court requesting it to combine the three references against him rather than indicting him separately in each.

    The counsel contended that even the witnesses in the three references are common.

    The NAB team then requested the court for a short break to ponder the request, which was granted by the judge.

    The court then reserved its judgment on Nawaz's plea and went into a short recess.

    Nawaz's plea in Supreme Court

    On October 13, the former prime minister filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking the quashing of the 'concurrent' corruption references against him.

    The plea calls upon the Supreme Court to halt the accountability court proceedings of the three references against the Sharif family until a single reference is filed.

    Indictment deferred

    At the last hearing on October 13, the former prime minister did not appear in court as he was in London, along with his sons, to be with his wife who is undergoing treatment for lymphoma.

    Judge Mohammad Bashir also approved NAB's plea to declare Hussain and Hasan Nawaz proclaimed offenders and separated their proceedings in the three references filed against them.

    Commotion at last hearing

    A commotion by members of the legal fraternity on Friday forced the accountability court judge to adjourn proceedings minutes after they began.

    As the hearing went under way, the lawyers began protesting inside the court for being disallowed to enter the premises by security personnel.

    They claimed the Islamabad High Court has allowed lawyers to be present inside the judicial complex as well as the accountability court as "it is an open court".

    The lawyers also argued with the deputy attorney general and created a commotion, forcing Judge Mohammad Bashir to leave for his chamber and abort the proceedings.

    NAB officials said that they were manhandled by the lawyers as well and the head of their prosecution team, Sardar Muzaffar, was pushed from the dais.

    After Punjab Additional Advocate General Khawar Ikram Bhatti was caught on camera slapping a police officer outside the court premises, the Punjab government on October 16 dismissed him from service.

    The references

    The NAB has in total filed three references against the Sharif family and one against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the accountability court, in light of the Supreme Court's orders in the Panama Papers case verdict of July 28.

    The anti-graft body was given six weeks, from the date of the apex court's order, to file the reference in an accountability court while the accountability court was granted six months to wrap up the proceedings.

    The references against the Sharif family pertain to the Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metals Establishment, their London properties and over dozen offshore companies owned by the family.

    Maryam and Safdar are only nominated in the London properties reference. At an earlier hearing, the court also approved Maryam and Safdar's bail in the Avenfiled properties case and ordered them to submit surety bonds worth Rs5 million each.

    Safdar was also directed to take the court's permission before leaving the country from now on. The judge also provided a copy of the reference — spread over 53 volumes — to Maryam and Safdar.

    NAB's Rawalpindi branch prepared two references regarding the Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metals Establishment, and the nearly dozen companies owned by the Sharif family.

    Its Lahore branch prepared a reference on the Sharif family's Avenfield apartments in London and another against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for owning assets beyond his known sources of income.

    If convicted, the accused may face up to 14 years imprisonment and lifelong disqualification from holding public office including the freezing of bank accounts and assets.