Bilawal sees conspiracy behind ‘selective’ accountability

PPP chairman questions appointment of same judge in cases against Nawaz and Zardari


News Desk July 12, 2019

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Casting serious doubts over ongoing accountability process in the country, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday demanded free and transparent investigations into the video leak scandal.

“Something is not right when the same judge hears cases against both Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari,” he remarked while speaking to reporters in Sukkur. The issue of accountability court judge Arshad Malik's alleged confessional video raises serious questions over transparency of the country’s judicial system, he added.

“This issue needs to be investigated in a free and transparent manner,” Bilawal said and stressed the need for impartial and independent state institutions. “These are same institutions and judges who failed to deliver justice in cases against my grandfather [Zulfikar Ali Bhutto] and my mother [Benazir Bhutto],” he added.

Arshad Malik barred from serving as accountability judge

The PPP chairman vowed to continue his struggle for the independence of institutions, saying impartial verdicts free of any pressure would prove to be beneficial for the country.

Judge Malik was part of the controversial video clip presented by the PML-N leadership alleging that the accountability judge confessed before a long-time party supporter Nasir Butt about being threatened to convict former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference verdict.

Malik has been barred by the law ministry from serving as an accountability court judge after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) requested his removal over the scandal.

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