Almost a month after this scribe cited exclusive evidence and reported that former Gilgit-Baltistan chief justice Rana Shamim took the oath and signed an affidavit in the office of none other than Nawaz Sharif, audio evidence came to the fore on Wednesday, confirming the veracity of the evidence finally.
The recordings have been forensically analysed by audio experts who found no evidence of tampering or manipulation, thus substantiating the evidence cited by the report.
A story published in The Express Tribune on Dec 26 had cited unspecified evidence and quoted Charles D. Guthrie — the London-based solicitor who had notarised Shamim's affidavit — as saying that the document was notarised at an office in Stanhope Place in Marble Arch, London.
The report had sparked hue and cry as well as suspicions over the credibility of the said evidence, which had been by then still under the wraps and withheld by the scribe.
Now, in light of the above, a detailed forensic analysis of the audio evidence is being released, extracts of which are available on the “Irfan Hashmi Official” YouTube channel.
The audio evidence has been forensically analysed by Joseph Naghdi, UK’s top forensic expert, who declared it to be “genuine, unadulterated, wholesome, and unedited.”
“I, Joseph Naghdi, confirm that the audio recording “Voice 001.m4a' is genuine, unadulterated, wholesome, and unedited. The examined audio waveform does not indicate any tampering or edit in its audio stream,” confirmed Mr Naghdi.
A thorough comparative inspection was carried out on two different samples to ascertain whether the waveform patterns matched.
The comparison showed that both voices, taken from two different sources, do match and belong to the same person who is identified as Charles Guthrie of ‘Charles Guthrie & Co Legal Ltd’, Golden Cross House, 8 Duncannon Street, London, WC2N 4JF, UK.
Contrary to the norm in Pakistani media where mudslinging is never backed by any credible evidence, the evidence cited by this scribe had been sent to a top forensic lab in the UK and had been analysed for its credibility before being published.
TV appearance helped in authenticating evidence
The forensic inspection further proves that the audio conversation did in fact take between Mr Guthrie and the reporter himself. The voice analysis has been done by placing it in comparison with the audio of a much-cited video interview on a TV channel that Mr Guthrie gave publicly.
The interview served for the forensic investigation as a much-needed audio comparison, which was previously difficult. It is pertinent to note that the evidence was secured before Charles Guthrie gave the interview, which is also available on YouTube and other social media platforms.
Saqib Nisar’s forensically controversial audio
Two different companies gave different versions of the controversial leaked audio allegedly belonging to Justice (r) Saqib Nisar. One of the companies had declared it a fake. On the contrary, the audio of Mr Charles Guthrie has been certified by UK’s top forensic firm.
As a computer forensic investigator, expert witness (civil and criminal), Mr Naghdi has extensive experience in capturing, analyzing examining electronically stored information and reporting on it by making use of the current and technologically advanced hardware/software tools.
The forensic expert has been also assisting law firms, police forces, government agencies, local councils, fraud investigators, insurance companies, private individuals and financial institutions with digital forensic investigations since 2007. Joseph also worked with BBC World Service in 1996 as a Producer.
Guthrie on the spot: “No comments”
Meanwhile, ever since these revelations came to light, Mr Guthrie has switched off his phone and has declined to offer any comment. In fact, when he was asked in a different interview about the place Shamim signed the affidavit at, Mr Guthrie responded: “No comments”.
The scribe also notes that Mr Guthrie volunteered this information.
Five excerpts from the audio made public
In the five audio clips, Charles Guthrie can be heard confirming that Rana Shamim was indeed present at Marble Arch.
Mr Guthrie confirmed his information three times.
“The judge guy was in Nawaz Sharif’s office.” When asked in the audio “That was which office? Like here in London?”, Guthrie responds “Marble Arch.”
In the audio clip, Guthrie was further asked: “He was in Nawaz Sharif’s office? They were like quite cozy when they were in there?”
To that, the notary replied “Very… yeah.”
In the audio, Charles Guthrie also said: “That is one of his mates you know what I mean. When Nawaz Sharif was Prime Minister “I will make you the head judge in Pakistan and that type of thing.” And if you've been the head judge, ruled over 10 to 15 years, so he was one of his friends”
Another startling revelation that the Notary made was that he has never read the documents.
These disclosures and evidence raise several questions: 1) Was Rana Shamim was under duress? 2) Who invited Rana Shamim to visit London? 3) Where did he stay in London? 4) Who sponsored his visit? 5) Can Rana Shamim produce hotel receipts that he paid for from his pocket? 6) Who received him from the airport? 7) Who introduced him to Charles Guthrie? 8) Who leaked the affidavit as denied by Charles Guthrie?
Complete silence in the Sharif house
Ever since the evidence against Rana Shamim’s affidavit was published, there has been no rebuttal or denial from either member of the PML-N or from Charles Guthrie himself.
Several attempts have been made to contact both parties for a comment which have gone unanswered.
Nasir Butt, a close aide of PML-N supremo, refrained from making any comment on it by saying: “Hamein Mana Kiya Gaya Hai (We have been forbidden to speak with you). He was approached outside Hassan Nawaz’s office for comment from Nawaz Sharif.
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