Shehbaz, Hamza couldn’t be indicted in money-laundering case

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz could not be indicted on Friday, and an accountability court extended the interim bail of the father-son duo till Feb 28 in a money-laundering case.

The counsel for the accused informed the court that the charge-sheet documents provided to them were not readable. He requested the court to order the prosecution to provide them readable and clear copies and adjourn the hearing for preparation of the case. The opposition leader in the National Assembly said: “If I had ill-gotten money, then why would I come back to Pakistan,” he said. He said when he had returned home, he was sent back by the next flight.

Speaking in the court, the FIA lawyer questioned whether the statement of Shehbaz Sharif was final, to which the PMLN leader said that he was addressing the court and not the lawyer.

Meanwhile, Shehbaz’s lawyer Ata Tarar told the prosecutor that he should not teach them, which led to an argument amongst the lawyers of the two sides. The argument was stopped after the court intervened.

Shehbaz alleged that PM Imran Khan's former adviser on accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar had an article printed against him in the Daily Mail, after which the ministers attacked him. He added that after nearly two-and-a-half years, the NCA dropped the inquiry against him.

The opposition leader further added that it had been four years now and the government was yet to prove a single penny corruption against him. “I saved nearly Rs1,000 billion of the people and served the poor people of Pakistan. I agree I have committed sins, but they cannot prove the corruption," said Shehbaz.

He alleged that the Saaf Pani case was highlighted to defame him. “I was arrested in another case and kept in NAB penitentiary; however, I am glad that all suspects were acquitted in Saaf Pani case.”

Shehbaz added that former FIA director general Bashir Memon had said it on record that the prime minister had asked him to file a case against him. “I swear to God if it is proven that Suleman Shehbaz has done fraud with a Turkish company, then I will apologise and go home,” he added.

The Opposition leader said that a "fake case" has been filed against him and he should be informed where the corruption was done. Separately, PMLN Secretary Information Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Friday that Prime Minister Imran Khan falsely accused Shehbaz Sharif of corruption, and this new fiasco over Ishaq Dar’s confession statement was another pointless uproar, as the statement had decisively been dismissed already by the Supreme Court.

Talking to the media here, she said: “If this confession statement was such massive and incriminating evidence, why was it not used by NAB and FIA and the so-called Asset Recovery Unit.

“Why was this not presented to the UK’s NCA? This investigation by the NCA was not like the tainted and politically directed investigations like the FIA and NAB. The NCA investigated these allegations against Shehbaz for two whole years that looked into 11 years and then withdrew their case from the courts which were a slap in the face of FIA and NAB,” she said.

Marriyum said: “This circus is going on for the past three-and-a-half years now. Pawns and bishops came and went but the real producer of the fiasco was the illegally imposed Prime Minister Imran Khan.”

She said Imran Khan abused every single national institution to use them as an instrument for his vengeful political victimisation. He even directed David Rose from the Daily Mail to publish a cooked-up story against Shehbaz. Where was Shahzad Akbar now who had ran the most vicious campaign against Shehbaz Sharif and had promised to recover billions in laundered money from Shehbaz, she questioned.