LONDON: Former premier Nawaz Sharif’s eldest son Hussain Nawaz has said his sister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s acquittal in the Avenfield Reference at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) is a victory of fair play and also a reminder how Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz were victimised and jailed in 2018 in bogus cases to manipulate the results of elections.
Welcoming the IHC’s decision, which set aside convictions of Maryam Nawaz and Captain Safdar, Hussain Nawaz said in an interview here that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) were never interested in finding out the real and actual answers of who bought the Avenfield flats in mid 90s because their objective was only to target, humiliate and jail Maryam Nawaz and Nawaz Sharif to engineer the political process.
Hussain Nawaz said: “When you do unnatural actions, the outcome is unnatural too. An attempt was made to link our grandfather Mian Sharif’s assets to Nawaz Sharif when it was clear that Mian Sharif was not a public office holder. These flats were acquired by Mian Sharif. If these investigations had been turned towards Mian Sharif, then all answers would be found and answered but the JIT was not interested in those answers. They were interested only in victimising Nawaz Sharif, to target him and to target his politics.”
Hussain Nawaz said that Mian Hussain started his businesses in late 30s and early 40s, before the creation of Pakistan, and set up several companies as his business empire expanded.
Hussain Nawaz said: “Mian Sharif started his businesses even before the creation of Pakistan. The Ittefaq Foundries was set up before Pakistan was made. It used to be in the Lahore city and later it was moved to Kot Lakhpat where the factory was started. Mian Sharif had around 32 companies which were registered including Ittefaq Foundries Ltd, Ittefaq Brothers Ltd, Brothers Steel Ltd, Ilyas Enterprises Ltd, Ittefaq Sugar Mills Ltd, Ramzan Sugar Mills Ltd, Chaudhary Sugar Mills Ltd. The textile business isn’t included in this list.”
Hussain Nawaz said that during the Panama case investigations, the JIT was invited to look at the whole case including the origin of the money as this could have helped the JIT to find answers “but their objective never was fair investigation or justice; their objective was revenge.”
Hussain Nawaz said his father Nawaz Sharif had famously said that he left his matters to Allah in the hope that all matters will meet their natural course of justice. “The family is thankful to Allah at the acquittal of Maryam and we have offered Shukrana Nawafil at the outcome. We have left all our matters to Allah and pray for justice.”
Hussain Nawaz said the victimisation of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz started in 2016 in the name of accountability and the whole purpose was to victimise the family. “In between we suffered the irreplaceable loss of my mother and grandmother. We will never get them back.”
Speaking about Nawaz Sharif’s cases, Hussain Nawaz said that when the IHC judges asked the NAB about Sharif’s links with the Avenfield flats, the NAB had no answer. “The court has asked the NAB how it could link the Avenfield flats and what evidence they had furnished before the court. The NAB had no answer. If this was linked with Mian Sharif, then the matter would be totally different and all answers would be found but that’s not what was desired.”
Hussain Nawaz said he hopes those who plotted against his family and targeted them would pay the price for their actions through “divine justice”. He added: “The wasted years will not come back but Inshallah divine justice will work.”
Last week, the IHC overturned the conviction of Maryam Nawaz and her husband Captain (R) Safdar in the Avenfield Reference by an accountability court. The court said that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations against the couple.
The Panama Papers case started in 2016 when the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung obtained around 11.5m files from the database of one of the world’s biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca, and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The papers revealed that the Sharif Family owns the four flats in the posh localities of London Mayfair and Park Lane. The Supreme Court took suo-moto notice and formed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to investigate the allegations.
The JIT submitted its report to the apex court and recommended forwarding references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his children, including Maryam to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Multiple references were filed against Nawaz, Maryam, Hassan and Hussain in the NAB. The Avenfield Reference was one of them.
In July 2018, an Islamabad accountability court sentenced Nawaz Sharif to 10 years in prison and a fine of eight million pounds was imposed on him in a case linked to the Sharif family’s purchase of upscale London flats.
The PML-N founder’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, and Captain (R) Muhammad Safdar were accused in the case as well. Maryam was sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of two million pounds was imposed on her. Safdar, on the other hand, was given a punishment of a year in prison.
Maryam and Safdar had challenged their convictions in the Islamabad High Court. The court on Thursday acquitted them stating that there was no evidence against them.