The accountability court hearing the Avenfield properties reference against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family reserved on Friday its decision on the prosecution’s plea to submit fresh evidence in the case. Hearing the Avenfield reference case on Friday, Accountability Court Judge Mohammad Bashir allowed Nawaz Sharif and Maryam a one-day exemption from being present in court as both are in London with the former prime minister’s ailing wife. The bench, however, denied the defence’s one-week-long exemption plea and remarked that in case the defendants could not appear due to an unavoidable obligation the counsel may submit another exemption request. As the hearing went under way, prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi informed the court that NAB’s international cooperation wing has obtained additional documents related to the Avenfield and Flagship investment cases. The documents were received in response to the Panama case JIT’s letter, the prosecutor said further, adding that NAB also received a response from the UK central authority. He also claimed that the suspects attempted to conceal these documents. In his arguments, Amjad Pervez, counsel for Maryam, said that the witnesses in the case have already been cross-examined with regards to the registry record. Accountability Court Judge Mohammad Bashir then reserved its decision on NAB’s plea. The NAB has also decided to produce NAB Operations Director General Zahir Shah as a new witness. Shah will submit fresh evidence against the accused that he acquired from the British government. The NAB investigation officer and DG operations are the last two witnesses in the case after the hectic cross-examination of Wajid Zia concluded over several weeks. As per the documents acquired by Shah, the Sharif family’s London apartments were transferred to the possession of offshore companies Nielson and Nescoll in 1993-1995, and not in 2005-2006. In various statements, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said the Avenfield properties were transferred in the name of the companies in 2005-2006 and that they belonged to his children. But in 1993-1995 Nawaz’s children Hussain and Hasan were young and did not have any source of income. Therefore, they cannot be considered owners of the properties and thus the former premier was their real owner, the documents state. The anti-corruption watchdog has filed three supplementary references pertaining to Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment, offshore companies, including Flagship Investment Ltd, and Avenfield properties of London against the Sharif family. Nawaz and sons Hussain and Hasan are accused in all three references whereas his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Safdar are accused in the Avenfield reference only. Published in Daily Times, April 21st 2018.