Superior judiciary should take notice of video scandal: PM

Imran Khan says govt must avoid becoming party in accountability court judge’s ‘confessional clip’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government must avoid becoming party in the video scandal surrounding around accountability court judge Arshad Malik’s alleged confession of convicting former PM Nawaz Sharif under duress.

“Judiciary is free and independent, [and therefore] it should take notice of the matter,” he said while chairing a meeting of the government spokespersons in the federal capital on Monday.

The prime minister said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has launched attacks on superior judiciary of the country in the past also. He directed the media managers to give the opposition party a befitting response for ‘launching attacks on state institutions’.

The meeting reviewed the country’s overall political situation in the wake of the alleged video confession by the accountability court judge, brought forward by PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz at an all-revealing news conference, flanked by senior most party leaders in Lahore on Saturday.

Maryam demands Imran’s resignation

She claimed that an incriminating video was used to force the judge give a desired verdict in Al-Azizia corruption reference against her father, the three-time prime minister of the country.

Judge Arshad Malik could be heard in the video as saying that there was “no proof of corruption against the deposed premier” in the December 24 Al-Azizia reference, and that he was blackmailed into giving a verdict against Sharif.

Speaking in today’s meeting, Prime Minister Imran said efforts were afoot to defame state institutions, and directed the party’s representatives to give a strong response to PML-N’s alleged tactics of defaming the institutions. “PML-N has a history of targeting and maligning the judiciary… but, this is Naya Pakistan and this won’t be tolerated any longer.”

All their schemes, PM Imran said, would prove futile as he vowed to continue the ongoing accountability process in the country.

Forensic audit of clip to put controversy to rest

The meeting took place hours after Maryam Nawaz demanded of Prime Minister Imran to resign and quit his office, saying (her father) Nawaz Sharif is innocent and has been wrongly punished.

“The only crime he [Nawaz] has committed is that he did not commit a crime,” she said while addressing a public rally in Mandi Bahauddin on Sunday night.

The government has showed on multiple occasions its intent to conduct a forensic audit of the video and audio ever since the startling revelations were made over the weekend.

On Sunday, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan had claimed that the video brought forward by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was recorded in a media house.

Meanwhile, a former inspector general of police, speaking on condition of anonymity with The Express Tribune, has said that forensic audit of both audio and video recordings was doable at the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) and the results would be produced within one week if the matter was carried out on urgent basis.