I’ve no link with letters from Qatari prince: Nawaz

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Thursday denied any link with the Qatari Prince Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani’s letters which the Sharif family had presented as evidence in the Supreme Court during the Panama case proceedings.

The Accountability Court-II Judge, Muhammad Arshad Malik, resumed the hearing of Al-Azizia corruption reference against the former prime minister on Thursday. Nawaz has answered most of the 151 questions posed to him by the court under Section 342 of Criminal Procedure Code in the corruption reference against him. Recording his statement with the judge, Nawaz Sharif said he had no relation with the Qatari prince's letters.

A year ago, the Sharif family had presented letters from the Qatari Prince Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani’s as evidence in the Panama reference against them in the Supreme Court. Responding to a question, Nawaz asserted, “I was not part of any transaction in any capacity. My name has not been mentioned in any document.”

Responding to a question, he said, “The records of our business were seized after martial law was imposed in 1999. We filed complaints but no action was taken.” Nawaz claimed that it’s not right that his family had no cash or resources during its stay in Saudi Arabia. “My father managed to arrange money to meet our expenses.”

Addressing the judge, Nawaz said, “Judge Sahib, this not only happened to us in 1999 but always. It is a painful story of our family”. The former premier said, “In 1972, Pakistan’s biggest steel mill Ittefaq Foundry was nationalised and nobody asked if we even had the money to eat. I was not even a politician back in 1972 and entered politics in the 1980s.” He further said: “The JIT’s Volume X is mere investigative report and not an acceptable evidence. I am not a witness to any document submitted by the JIT other than my tax records. I had provided the JIT with my tax records,” he added.

Nawaz continued, “Mutual Legal Assistance was presented as evidence against me. The MLA from Saudi Arabia did not get a response while the response from the United Arab Emirates was factually incorrect.” Answering a question, the former PM also expressed reservations about the statement of the JIT head Wajid Zia.

The accountability court has set the deadline of November 17 to wrap up the two corruption references, including Al-Azizia and Flagship Investments reference, against the Sharif family.