Panama Papers probe: Nawaz Sharif to be present in court for indictment proceedings

Islamabad:  Ousted Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be present during his indictment proceedings in the accountability court on Monday in three corruption and money laundering cases involving his family’s offshore properties, his party said on Sunday. “Mr Sharif is not leaving for London and he will attend indictment proceedings of accountability court in Islamabad on Monday against him. However, his children will not appear before the court,” the ruling PML-N said. [caption id=“attachment_4071971” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Nawaz Sharif. AP[/caption] “Nawaz Sharif has decided to appear before the court in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references in order to expose the targeted trial,” Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah said and added justice is being “compromised” in the case. The minister also said Sharif’s children — Hassan, Hussain and Maryam — and son-in-law Safdar will not come from London to appear in the court to face the graft cases. “Since Mr Sharif’s children are busy looking after their mother (Kulsoom Nawaz) they are unlikely to appear in the accountability court on Monday,” the minister said, adding the court should have given more time for indictment. The court has already issued bailable warrants for Hassan, Hussain, Maryam, and Safdar. The accountability court may issue non-bailable arrest warrants for the suspects for skipping the proceedings for the third consecutive time. During his first appearance in the accountability court on September 26 in connection with three corruption references filed by the NAB against him and his family members, it declined Sharif’s request for exemption from personal attendance. The Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif, 67, as prime minister on 28 July in the Panama Papers case and ordered the NAB to file corruption and money laundering references against the Sharif family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the light of the Joint Investigation Team’s report. Dar has already been indicted in the reference against him for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income. Sharif’s wife Kulsoom has undergone three successful surgeries for throat cancer in London and her condition is stated to be stable. Sharif is likely to leave for London to be with his wife on 5 October.