Spitting by Nawaz Sharif guard shocked me, says Panzani Cheema

LONDON: A Londoner who was spat at by former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif’s guard has said she was left in a state of shock after the incident.

Geo reported last week the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has charged Nawaz Sharif’s former guard Farid Nemouchi with the alleged common assault for spitting on Panzani Cheema, a Brunei national who works in the financial sector. Pakistani media had interviewed Nawaz Sharif a moment before the incident last year on 16 September. Panzani Cheema had appeared from nowhere and started filming and questioning as Farid Nemouchi was pulling out to take Nawaz Sharif home. Panzani Cheema had knocked on the window of the car. Farid Nemouchi, driving Nawaz Sharif, lowered the window and said “Hi” to the woman. The woman said “Hi” to Nawaz Sharif and said, “I have heard that you are a very corrupt Pakistani politician.” Angered by the comment, the driver allegedly spat on her face, rolled up the window, and drove away. The entire incident was caught on Panzani Cheema’s phone.

This week, Panzani Cheema told Geo and The News what unfolded on that day. She said: “I was just walking to the Hyde Park with a friend and saw a group of people gathered there. I saw Nawaz Sharif and approached to question him. I asked the driver to roll down the window. I knew he would have no time for me. I asked the question and his driver spat at me and drove off.” Cheema said: “Physically of course I didn’t get hurt but emotionally I was in a state of shock. It took me a while to register what had happened. I was disgusted by it. Nawaz Sharif should have asked his guard to apologise instead of running away.”

She said she went into a state of shock when the incident took place. “ ”My friend from the Czech Republic was with me. I wasn’t expecting that. My friend is a women’s rights activist. She encouraged me to contact the police and with help from a Pakistani friend we did research and filed the complaint.

The next day the police got in touch.” Since the reporting of the incident, Panzani’s pictures with the ex-PM Imran Khan have emerged but she insists she has no time for Pakistani politics and is not bothered about what’s going on there.

She said: I don’t have any connections to politics as I am not involved but I do consider myself an activist. I stand up for the rights of Palestine and Yemen. It had nothing to do with Pakistani politics.”

Two weeks ago, the guard appeared at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court with his lawyer Moeen Khan, a criminal law expert.

He pleaded not guilty before the judge and said he would contest the charge of spitting and causing distress to Panzani Cheema.

The prosecutor told the judge that the spitting act had left Panzani Cheema distressed and caused her trauma.

The judge told Farid that he was on bail without any conditions attached. The trial will take place at a later date in June or July. Farid Nemouchi, Algerian by origin, is a highly trained martial arts expert who protected Nawaz Sharif in London for nearly three years during the former premier’s last exile in London. He returned to Pakistan a few months ago to lead PMLN’s election campaign.