Zardari’s remand extended till July 8

PPP co-chairman asks court to have handcuffs of other accused removed as ‘they’re not anti-state elements’

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad on Thursday extended Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s physical remand in the custody of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the fake accounts case till July 8.

The former president was presented before judge Arshad Malik with strict security measures in place.

However, NAB officials did not produce two co-accused in the case, Hussain Lawai and Taha Raza, before the court.

Their lawyer expressed concerns over why they were not brought to the court despite being in NAB custody. He pointed out that his clients were neither being allowed access to their legal team, nor permitted to meet their families. The lawyer feared that they could have been killed in custody.

Besides Zardari, NAB officials also brought co-accused Abdul Ghani Majeed of Omni Group to the court.

The former president asked Abdul Ghani to sit next to him in the courtroom.

At one point, Zardari asked the court to have the handcuffs of the co-accused removed, saying that the case pertained to while-collar crime.

“These are all educated people and there is no need to handcuff them,” he added.

On the judge’s query, Zardari said Omni Group’s Anwar Majeed, Abdul Ghani’s father and a co-accused in the case, was neither a robber nor an enemy of the state. “Anwar Majeed is 70 years old and his heart works at only 30%,” he added.

“NAB official picked him [Anwar Majeed] up at night from a hospital. When he was taken to the airport, his condition deteriorated and he had to be taken to a hospital again. Then they arrested his son Abdul Ghani.

Zardari told the court that the accused in the case were not anti-state elements and did not deserve the treatment being meted out to them.

During the hearing, Anwar’s three other sons, Namar Majeed, Zulqarnain Majeed and Ali Kamal Majeed, filed applications for their acquittal maintaining that they had no connection with the case.

The judge told their lawyer that it was too early to file applications for acquittal. The lawyer responded that he had attached the Islamabad High Court’s orders with the applications that stated that the three accused were not involved in the case.

The NAB prosecutor sought time from the court to file his response to the applications.

Abdul Ghani requested the court to order the provision of medical facilities to him.

The judge responded that everyone arrested by NAB usually fell sick. “Should the NAB headquarters be shifted to a hospital?” he remarked.

Zardari said they were not weak and not among those were scared easily. “I have spent 13 years in solitary confinement,” he added.

The judge noted that some people had the courage to take on a lion with bare hands while others were even afraid of small animals.

The former president replied that even a lizard was enough to scare the prime minister.

Zardari and others are being investigated in cases related to money laundering through fictitious bank accounts.

Senate chairman

Speaking to reporters at the Parliament House, the PPP co-chairman expressed his dissatisfaction over the performance of Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.

“The de-seating of the Senate chairman will send a clear message to the government that the opposition is united,” he said.

Zardari added his party had voted for Sanjrani hoping that as he was from Balochistan, it would help address the issues of the province where there is a sense of deprivation.

“However, he [Sanjrani] has been disappointing and only following instructions.”

The PPP co-chairman also said although the opposition did not want the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to carry on, it was also against derailing the democratic process.