Nawaz acquittal proof of victimisation by Niazi-NAB nexus: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb Thursday said acquittal of three-time elected PM and PMLN Quaid Nawaz Sharif in a plot allotment reference by an accountability court was yet another proof of his political victimisation by the Niazi-NAB nexus.

Speaking to a media conference here, she said during Imran’s era, NAB was used by him to target political opponents, whereas the accountability court had clearly stated that Nawaz Sharif was targeted for political revenge.

The court in its verdict, she noted, said no corruption had been revealed in Nawaz Sharif’s case and he was honourably acquitted on merit and that no legal requirements had been fulfilled in declaring the former premier an absconder.

The minister said that the process of targeting Nawaz Sharif and his family had started with changing ‘Panama to Iqama’ and that the objective of the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) was to target and victimise Imran’s political opponents and gagging the media. She added it was divine justice that Shahzad Akbar (then head of ARU) was not able to show his face to anyone in Pakistan today.

By exerting pressure on NAB, false cases were made against Nawaz Sharif. She also read out a portion from the verdict announced by the accountability court judge Rao Abdul Jabbar, who acquitted Nawaz Sharif.

She said the judge of accountability court had categorically said that Nawaz Sharif was politically victimised, as the then regime (of PTI) used all possible means and resources to target and victimize the opponents of Imran Khan.

Nawaz Sharif from 2017 to 2022 had presented not only himself, his daughter, his brother and his brother’s family but also his late father by providing documents of the past 40 years.

The minister regretted that former premier Nawaz Sharif was targeted and victimised during the regime of PTI. She pointed out that the chief executive officer of a leading media house was arrested in a fake plot case to pressurise the media to toe the line of the-then rulers.

She insisted that today’s verdict of the accountability court should be an eye-opener for those who blindly followed the false narrative of PTI.

She continued that the case about plot allotment was related to the time when Nawaz Sharif was the chief minister of Punjab and in that case, the chief executive of a media group was also subjected to victimisation, who was afterwards set free on merit after hearing of the case.

Marriyum said during the PTI rule, journalists were arrested and attacked to silence the voice of dissent and that had earned the-then PM Imran Khan the title of predator at the international level, as during that period, every possible tactic was employed to gag the media.