JIT found no proof against Nawaz Sharif in London: Maryam

Daughter of deposed premier says rivals have miserably failed to find anything objectionable against Sharifs

ISLAMABAD: Maryam Nawaz, daughter of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif,  has said the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) had failed to find any concrete evidence against her family and returned "empty handed" from the United Kingdom.

The JIT, formed by the Supreme Court to probe the Panamagate scam, had contacted six countries including the UK for mutual legal assistance during its 60-day probe into the Sharif family’s offshore assets, paving the way for the apex court to disqualify Nawaz Sharif and order the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to open references against the family.

Speaking to media representatives outside an accountability court on Thursday, Maryam said opponents had miserably failed to find anything objectionable against her father, adding that evidences were being fabricated against the Sharif family. In the same breath, she  questioned if the law only applied to Nawaz Sharif and his family in the country.

Maryam's remarks come the same day when an accountability court issued bailable arrest warrants against Nawaz Sharif after he failed to appear before the court in connection with three references filed by the NAB.

Warrants out as Sharif skips court hearing

The accountability court has indicted Sharif, daughter Maryam and son-in-law Captain (retd) Mohammad Safdar in Avenfield Apartments reference. Sharif is also indicted in two separate references pertaining to the Azizia Steel Company and the Hill Metal Company and the Flagship Investment and other companies.

The indictments came after the court separated the trial of Sharif’s sons, Hussain and Hassan Nawaz, after they failed to appear before the court despite repeated orders. The court had declared Sharif’s sons – who were nominated by NAB as accused in all the three references — as absconders.

"We are appearing before the court despite our mother’s illness and father’s questionable disqualification… so how can the process are termed as VVIP accountability?” Maryam, political heir apparent to Sharif, responded to criticism raised by rival parties.

“The best example of VVIP accountability is former military ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf who left the country unaccounted on a lame pretext of backache,” she said and claimed that 'hasty justice’ was being meted out to only Nawaz Sharif and his family.

Later, she tweeted saying: “Unjust verdicts of the past are still bringing shame and bad repute to judges and courts of that eras.”

نانصافی سے کئے گئے فیصلے آج بھی تاریخ میں اس وقت کے منصفوں اور عدالتوں کیلئے بدنامی اور شرمندگی کا سامان ھیں.

— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) October 26, 2017

Maryam said despite upholding democratic values and promoting justice in the society, why the former premier was being termed as traitor. She said the country is passing through a critical situation and expressing apprehension on any verdict can amount to contempt of court.

Sharif attorney sees ‘unholy haste’ in court order

The former first daughter also ruled out reports of differences within the Sharif family, claiming that only the media was propagating against the family which has no importance.

Responding to a question about handling the PML-N media cell, Maryam categorically said she did not run any media cell and know well who was spreading the ‘propaganda campaign’.