Daily Times

Terming the alleged audio clip of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar a charge sheet against him, the Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz Wednesday asked him to come forth and tell the nation who’d pressured him for her and her father former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s conviction in the Avenfield Apartments reference.

Addressing a fiery and detailed press conference at the PML-N’s secretariat in Islamabad along with other senior party leaders, Maryam Nawaz said the latest allegation regarding judicial interference was the fifth testimony in favor of Nawaz Sharif.

“The PML-N supremo was ousted from power unfairly and totally on instructions of persons in institutions,” she said this without mentioning the name of any institution.

Maryam, however, kept audio of former CJP audio scandal focus of entire presser. She also avoided questions asked by journalists about some other matters including delay of the opposition in executing the plan for anti-government drive and some other announcements made by the opposition parties soon after the passage of three controversial bills by the National Assembly with absolute majority.

Maryam Nawaz continued to say that when Saqib Nisar was asked what he planned on doing about the allegations against him, he said he was “not mad to pursue the matter in court”.

“Whether today, or tomorrow, you will have to tell the nation the facts. It’s not late yet, take courage and tell the whole nation who was behind you to sentence Nawaz Sharif without merit. And who told you that Imran Khan needs to be brought to power?” she asked the former CJP in a very aggressive tone.

In an audio clip, the former CJP can be heard saying, “Let me be a little blunt about it. Unfortunately, here it is the institutions that dictate judgments. In this case, we will have to punish Miansahab (Nawaz Sharif) and have been told that we have to bring Khan Sahib (Imran Khan) into power.”

When the clip was widely broadcasted by the mainstream media and also shared on social media, Saqib Nisar came forward and issued a press release in which he totally denied the audio clip terming the audio “fabricated”.

Maryam Nawaz, however, said propaganda had been started against the “renowned” US company that carried out the forensic of the audio clip and reportedly stated that it had not been edited or tampered with.

It was ridiculous that Saqib Nisar was not saying anything in his defense, while government ministers were defending him haphazardly, she said.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan never called a meeting to discuss inflation, but after the audio leak he called a meeting asking his party men to discuss the PML-N tenure in public,” she alleged, saying the ministers and the premier were actually saving themselves “because they know they will suffer badly once Saqib Nisar is proved guilty”.

Maryam Nawaz said after the ex-GB chief judge issued an affidavit, Nisar should have done the same.

“The incidents of the last five years are the biggest charge sheet against the former CJP,” she further told the presser.

Stressing politicians’ responsibility to protect the prestige of the judiciary, the PML-N leader stated, “Judiciary is bigger than these individuals. We don’t want to take matters beyond a certain point and the judiciary should clear its name itself.”

Attempts were being made to raise objections on the clip’s authenticity, Maryam Nawaz said, adding that certain local news channels were part of this agenda.

“Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui also made a startling statement, while former accountability judge Arshad Malik was punished for speaking the truth,” Maryam Nawaz recalled, adding that although the two judges had been removed, “nobody dared to come forward to provide justice to Nawaz Sharif.”

Justice Siddiqui in 2018 had claimed that personnel of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were manipulating judicial proceedings, particularly the ones involving Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz.

“If Nawaz didn’t deserve the punishment, then why did you play with the justice system? You were sitting in the highest forum and why could you not refuse orders to convict Nawaz Sharif?” she further asked the former CJP.

Meanwhile, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Wednesday confirmed the authenticity of a viral audio clip in which she could be heard instructing someone to stop advertisements to four TV channels, reports the media.

During the press conference regarding a recently surfaced audio clip allegedly containing the voice of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, a reporter questioned Maryam about the authenticity of the audio clip.

Replying to the question, the PML-N leader said she will not deny that the voice was hers or say it has been “fabricated”.

“I was running the party’s media cell at that time and it is an old audio clip,” she said.

Maryam, however, told journalists to ask questions related to Nisar’s case, adding that she will speak about this issue later.

It is pertinent to mention here that in the audio that went viral on social media, Maryam was heard telling someone that no advertisement will go to four channels that she named.

Defending Maryam, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb in a statement said, “Maryam Nawaz’s conversation was regarding party advertisements; this is an old audio on which Maryam courageously spoke the truth.”

Aurangzeb emphasised that decisions regarding party ads “are taken by the party itself”.

“When one hasn’t done anything wrong then this is how one openly confesses,” the spokesperson said, adding that “there was nothing to hide in the audio.”

“There is no need to stir up a storm over this audio; attention cannot be diverted from the real issue.”