£190m scandal reference: Cross-examination of two more witnesses ends

ISLAMABAD: Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana on Wednesday adjourned the hearing in the £190 million scandal reference against PTI founder and Bushra Bibi till May 31 after completing the cross-examination of two more witnesses.

The judge heard the reference in Adiala jail, Rawalpindi. Lawyers completed cross-examination of two more witnesses. A total of 30 witnesses’ statements have been recorded in the reference, while the cross-examination of 21 witnesses has been completed. The court summoned more NAB witnesses on May 31.

Talking to the media in Adiala jail, Imran said that he had a match in the Supreme Court on May 30 and demanded broadcasting live hearing of all the cases against him.

On the issue of Raoof Hassan’s attack, he said their patience has been tested for a long time and now it was over and they will protest on the streets. “We know who was behind this attack,” he said. It is further evidence that the system is coercive and efforts are being made to scare opposition rivals, the PTI founder said. He said PTI is not being allowed to hold a rally.

Imran said so far they had avoided protests in the larger interests of the country as the economy could not sustain any more pressures. He warned if they started protests, the assemblies would not be able to pass budgets and only the government would be responsible.

“We were sentenced before February 8, and despite all the propaganda, the people helped us win. They thought that we would run away from the election. The returning officer of Islamabad is on the run after PTI won the seats in Islamabad with a lead of 50,000. The election tribunal is not working in Lahore as they are afraid that the constituencies will have to be opened for scrutiny. The Form 47 Chief Minister of Punjab has passed the defamation law to gag the media,” the PTI leader charged. Referring to a statement of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Imran said the public accepts difficult decisions only when they see the leadership making sacrifices and not the other way round. Expressing happiness over the release of PTI president Pervez Elahi, Imran said he would have been released much earlier had he distanced himself from the PTI.

On striking a deal with former PM Nawaz Sharif, Imran said the only time he met the PMLN leader was in the presence of Ch Nisar and the former thought that the price of his conscience was a road in Bani Gala. He said while the US can overthrow any government, he was not allowed to highlight that.