Islamabad (June 17, 2017): In a first in the history of the country, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday appeared before the joint investigation team (JIT) currently seized with investigation into money laundering allegations against him and his family.
According to the details,Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif on Thursday has appeared before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), constituted by the Supreme Court (SC) to probe much-hyped Panama Leaks case.
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This is for the first time in the history of the country that a sitting prime minister appeared before an investigation team probing charges of financial crimes.
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The meeting of the JIT, presided over by Wajid Zia, has started at FJA and prime minister went inside the investigation hall, where the team grill those appearing before it.
Earlier, the Prime Minister left for the FJA from Prime Minister’s House as a common citizen, as no protocol staff or vehicle accompanied him. Even security vehicles or staff did not accompany the Prime Minister.
He came to the Academy in three vehicles along with his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, son Hussain Nawaz, nephew Hamza Shahbaz and son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar.
After arrival at the FJA, the Prime Minister waved to a few PML-N leaders and workers gathered outside the Academy. Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, PM’s son Hussain Nawaz and others left the FJA when the PM went inside the building of the Academy for appearance before the JIT.
It is to be mentioned that Nawaz Sharif was called as a witness, not as an accused party in the case.
Islamabad police, under the command of Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Sajid Kiani, have ensured foolproof security arrangements by deploying at least 2500 security officials at various rooftops around Federal Judicial Academy to avoid any untoward incident.
The employees of the Academy were allowed to enter the building only after passing through walk-through gates installed at the entrance of the Academy.
On Thursday morning, Inspector General Police Islamabad Khalid Khattak visited FJA and reviewed security arrangements being made for the day. SSP Operation Islamabad Police Sajid Kyani also visited the Academy and reviewed security inside of the building.
The roads heading to the academy have been blocked by placing barbed wires to refrain entry of irrelevant persons in the area, the higher police official said.
Journalists and media personnel have been allotted a special entrance and an enclosure with strict directives to not break the security restrictions.
On the other hand, activists of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) including lawyers and women have reached Islamabad to express solidarity with their leader while more banners and posters in support of PM Nawaz in the vicinity of the Federal Judicial Academy have been erected.
Earlier, Punjab CM Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif’s son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar had received a summon to appear before JIT on June 17 and June 25 respectively.
Back Ground
On April 20, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had announced Panama Leaks case decision comprising of 540 pages, saying that the court issued a split ruling calling for a JIT. Two of the five judges went further, branding Sharif “dishonest” and saying he should be disqualified, but they were outnumbered.
The team has been directed to submit a progress report after every two weeks to the apex court whereas it is also supposed to complete the investigation within two months.
Panama Papers had published a leak of documents belonging to Mossack Fonseca, a law firm in April 2016 creating an uproar in Pakistan among other countries. The leak was studied by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and stated names of incumbent as well as former leaders of the world who owned shell companies.
Opposition parties in Pakistan saw offshore companies owned by daughter and two sons of PM Nawaz as means to either stash wealth in foreign accounts or purchase assets abroad. The top court took up the case in October last year on petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Awami Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami and reserved the verdict in February after conducting hearings on daily basis.
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