Maryam and Safdar return home to appear in accountability court

ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Muhammed Safdar have arrived Pakistan to appear before the accountability court on Monday.

Ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Muhammed Safdar arrived at Benazir International Airport through Qatar Airways at around 01:30am, where they were received by PML-N senior leaders, including Daniyal Aziz, Asif Kirmani, Parvez Rasheed, Tariq Fazl Chaudhri and State Minister Talal Chaudhri.

Maryam Nawaz and her husband are required to appear before the court on Monday for the hearing of a reference filed against the Sharif family on the order of the Supreme Court.

It is worth mentioning here that six-member NAB team was also present at the airport to arrest former prime minister Nawaz sharif's son-in-law Mohammed Safdar as accountability court had issued the non-bailable warrants for Capt (Retd) Muhammed Safdar fro not appearing even after repeated summons.

While Maryam Nawaz had the option to get pre-arrest bail which she reportedly signed the papers and left alone for her house, the warrants of her spouse are non-bailable, which has given rise to an interesting situation as NAB six-member team reached the airport to arrest the son-in-law of the former PM who was in Rawal Lounge till filing of this report.

At the last hearing on October 2, Judge Mohammad Bashir issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Safdar, Hussain and Hasan, and bailable warrants for Maryam.

Nawaz has been appearing before the court since it began its proceedings. However, at present Nawaz is in London to spend time with his wife, Kulsoom, who is undergoing treatment for lymphoma.

The accountability court, hearing corruption cases against the Sharif family, is also likely to fix a date for indicting the accused. It has been learnt that around 1000 police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel are deployed for security during the hearing.

At the last hearing on October 2, Judge Mohammad Bashir issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Safdar, Hussain and Hasan, and bailable warrants for Maryam.

Safdar's arrest came minutes after Maryam Nawaz left the airport premises alone amid cheers by scores of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers, who gathered outside the airport.

Nawaz has been appearing before the court since it began its proceedings. However, at present Nawaz is in London to spend time with his wife, Kulsoom, who is undergoing treatment for lymphoma.

Maryam and Safdar face a corruption reference related to the Sharif family’s Avenfield. The other two references against them involve Azizia Steel Mills and offshore companies.

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.

Responding to a question, she said her brothers Hussain and Hasan will present themselves before the court too, but did not specify a date for their appearance.

It is unclear when the former premier will return. The court is yet to decide on his plea for exemption from appearance.

Following Nawaz's appearance before the court on Oct 2, Mohsin Ranjha, a member of his legal team, briefed the media. He said the former premier's indictment had been deferred to October 9, the next date of hearing.

 Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said on Sunday that she along with her husband was returning home to test the judicial system by appearing before a NAB court.

Speaking to media before leaving for airport here, Maryam said:“ We are returning home as a mark of respect for the Constitution and law. We will appear before accountability court and try the judicial system.”

To a question about Hasan and Hussain, she said that they would appear before the court, however, they themselves would decide about their return to Pakistan.

Election of Nawaz Sharif as PML-N head is a party’s internal matter. I am surprised that the people who had nothing to do with the PML-N are raising objections over the ex-PM’s election as party chief, Maryam said.