Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz appeared before the accountability court on Monday morning over references filed against her by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

During the hearing regulated by Justice Bashir, bails of Maryam Nawaz and Captain (retd) Safdar were approved after surety bonds of Rs 5 million each were submitted in court by lawyer Tariq Fazal Chaudhry.

NAB’s request to confiscate Safdar’s passport and to issue his judicial remand, has been rejected by the court, however, he has been addressed by the court not to leave the country without its permission.

Counsel to the Sharif family Khawaja Harris presented Kulsoom Nawaz’s medical report and claimed that Nawaz Sharif was ready to appear in the court but due to his wife’s serious condition and health, would not be available for 15 days.

NAB prosecutor appealed to issue Nawaz’s non-bailable arrest warrant for not being able to attend the hearing despite assurance, when the court inquired whether Nawaz Sharif should be granted exemption for 15 days. He further added that no accused can get away with an exemption before indictment.

Talking to the media, Maryam Nawaz said that they appeared before the court despite any reservations, proclaiming that 20 crore people elected Nawaz Sharif as their PM and the court took only a second to ousted him.

Maryam Nawaz asserted that she “knows very well what her ‘crime’ is”. She said that those who appear in court are being arrested from the airport while absconders are running free and holding rallies.

“But we are not ones to be afraid of being arrested,” she claimed.

“Judges will have to answer as questions are raised when a case over Panama [Papers] ended up on the Iqama [foreign work permit which led to Nawaz’s disqualification],” she commented.

She continued that the Pakistani law was not applicable on her brothers, and that they would decide about their appearance by themselves, adding that trials were filed against them one after another and they ‘survived’ it all.

Amongst those present in court were Asif Kirmani, Pervez Rashid, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Marvi Memon and other Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders.

The arrest

NAB officials arrested Captain (retd) Safdar, son-in-law of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, from outside the Islamabad airport, soon after he made his way back from London with his wife Maryam Nawaz late Sunday.

A six-member NAB team waited outside Rawal lounge of the airport to greet Capt (retd) Safdar with news of the arrest, as they were stopped by airport authorities from entering the lounge.

Maryam, left the airport premises alone, and shortly after, arrived at the residence of Chaudhry Muneer – her daughter’s father-in-law.

Amongst PML-N leaders present at the airport were Asif Kirmani, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Marvi Memon, Maiza Hameed and Tariq Fazal Chaudhry.

PML-N activists protested against the arrest of Captain (retd) Safdar, chanting slogans in favour of the party leadership, keeping the way for the vehicle, in which Safdar was escorted to NAB’s regional office in Islamabad. While raged activists thumped the vehicle repeatedly, there were a few who also laid down before it.

Safdar will remain under NAB custody until he is presented before the accountability court on Monday morning.

Nawaz has been appearing before the court ever since proceedings began. However, at present the former premier is in London to spend time with his wife, Kulsoom, undergoing treatment for lymphoma.

Earlier, before leaving for Heathrow Airport, Maryam said that the so-called accountability process as exposed to the world (corruption cases), is ‘not for justice but for revenge’.

Maryam and Safdar face a corruption reference that relates to the Sharif family’s Avenfield properties in London. The other two references against them relate to Azizia Steel Mills and offshore companies.

Previously, sources indicated that around 1,000 police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel were to be deployed for securing the premises at the time of the hearing.