PML-N, NAB trade barbs over Hamza

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) traded barbs on Saturday over the continued detention of Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz.

PML-N spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb called for Hamza to be released from NAB’s custody, saying Hamza is a victim of “political vengeance”, according to Geo News. She added that NAB “should face action for punishing an innocent person”.

Hamza was arrested by NAB on June 11 last year after the Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected his application for interim bail in the Ramzan Sugar Mills and money laundering cases.

Aurangzeb said despite Hamza having appeared before the court “more than 50 times” over “trumped up charges”, the accountability watchdog has failed to find evidence of any corruption. “Hamza is still facing punishment.”

Reacting to PML-N’s statement, a NAB spokesman insisted it has “concrete documentary evidence and witnesses”, which will be presented before the accountability court. He said the people “propagating innocence of Hamza Shahbaz in media should better appear before the court and plead his innocence there as defence witness”.

He said the court is “the relevant authority” to decide Hamza’s fate and “the law will definitely take its own course in this regard”. “NAB would continue performing its duties sans caring about threats, browbeating and baseless propaganda campaign,” he added. Meanwhile, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah alleged that Prime Minister Imran Khan is behind a recent NAB notice sent to party president Shahbaz Sharif, Geo News reported. According to NAB, Shahbaz, along with other political leaders, was allegedly involved in illegally allotting land owned by the Punjab Development Authority to people he favoured. Earlier this week, NAB had summoned the PML-N president once again on June 2 in an investigation pertaining to alleged money laundering. NAB alleged that the PML-N leader did not give satisfactory answers in the investigation.

Sanaullah said that the notice sent in relation to the Cholistan case is part of the scheming of the ‘NAB-Niazi nexus’. “Behind Nawaz and Shahbaz’s cases, and cases against every PML-N leader, is the face of [Prime Minister] Imran,” said the former Punjab law minister.