Maryam unveils more videos to ‘vindicate’ claim

Uploads two more clips of accountability court judge, Nasir Butt made through secret camera

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz has uploaded two more videos of a meeting between a judge and a PML-N worker to corroborate her earlier claim that the judge was blackmailed into giving an adverse judgment against former premier Nawaz Sharif on Dec 24, 2018.

Last week Maryam, flanked by senior most PML-N leaders, had unveiled in press conference a video showing Islamabad Accountability Court-II Judge Arshad Malik confessing before a PML-N worker Nasir Butt that he was pressured into convicting Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia case sans any evidence.

A day after the press conference, Judge Arshad Malik had issued a statement rejecting Maryam’s claims. He had maintained that the video revealed by the party as evidence was fake and it was in fact the PML-N leadership that tried to bribe and pressure him to rule in favour of its supreme leader.

The video uploaded by Maryam on Wednesday shows a government vehicle [bearing a green number plate] arriving at a pre-decided meeting place to receive a white Land Cruiser that later followed the alleged government vehicle.  All this has been shot by a person, carrying the spy camera on a motorbike, which follows the vehicles. No faces can be seen in the video.

But according to the description given by Maryam: “Judge Arshad Malik’s official car with a green number plate comes to escort Nasir Butt sb who then follows the car to judge sb’s residence. Belies all claims of Judge Arshad Malik sb that he mentioned in his press release.”

The next video shows Nasir Butt entering the residence of Judge Arshad Malik along with the same person carrying the camera. The video shows Malik first meeting Butt and later the person carrying spy camera. The description given by Maryam Nawaz states: “Nasir Butt sb entering Judge Sb’s residence. Judge Arshad Malik sb comes in, greets Nasir sb & switches the lights on.’

Later responding to a tweet of a PMLN supporter asking Judge Arshad Malik to confess his alleged wrongdoings before another video is released, Maryam Nawaz said the judge was allegedly under pressure and has been held hostage.

Maryam further claimed that former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbassi was taken off air as soon as he mentioned the judge being blackmailed and coerced into giving the judgment against Nawaz Sharif. She wrote: “They [government] are scared to death!”

Interestingly Judge Arshad Malik has never denied meeting Nasir Butt. He in his Sunday statement said he had held innumerable meetings with Nasir and his brother Abdullah Butt in the past, but snippets of his conversations with Butt had been cut and merged to present them out-of-context.

“It was an attempt to discredit me and my judgments by piecing together snippets of conversations on different topics and at different times.

The judge said he was a resident of Rawalpindi and had served as a lawyer before becoming a judge. Butt also belongs to the same city and is a long-time acquaintance of the judge, the statement had said.