'Conspiracy': Journalist who revealed Panama Papers terms Saad Rafique's remarks as ‘nonsense’

The PML-N leader had termed the scandal a ‘conspiracy against Pakistan’

Bastian Obermayer, the German investigative journalist, who is one of the reporters who unearthed the Panama Papers scandal, has termed Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique’s recent remarks on the issue as ‘nonsense’.

“With all due respect: this is nonsense. PM of Iceland resigned, so did ministers, 100+ Panama Papers investigations worldwide & more to come,” the reporter, who co-authored “Panama Papers: The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money”, tweeted on Monday.

https://twitter.com/b_obermayer/status/881801161275265024

His statement came in response to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader’s claim in which he termed the scandal was nothing but a “conspiracy against Pakistan”.



“After their sit-ins and allegations of rigging failed, our opponents brought up this Panama Leaks issue against us, which was not even acknowledged by Panama itself,” the minister told party workers in Lahore on Sunday.

Rafique claimed that nothing happened to leaders of other countries whose name appeared in the leaks.

This is not the first time Obermayer has responded to a ruling party leader for disparaging the huge collections of classified documents, which revealed names of over 200 Pakistanis, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s children, who own offshore companies in international tax havens.



In May this year, he responded to PM's daughter, Maryam Nawaz, who called the exposé a ‘crap’, saying it had been trashed in the rest of the world.

“Journalism isn't about bringing down a government. It's about telling the truth. Like it or not. (& Panama Papers isn't only about Pakistan, btw),” Obermayer had responded.