Hashmi says he is victim of revenge

RAWALPINDI. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nehal Hashmi said on Wednesday that he was made victim of revenge for standing by Nawaz Sharif. He lashed out at National Accountability Bureau (NAB) saying if the offices of the directors and assistant directors of NAB were raided, half the looted wealth of the country would be found.

A large number of PML-N supporters gathered outside Adiala Jail and showered rose petal on former senator who was released from Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi after completing his one-month sentence handed to him by the Supreme Court (SC) over contempt of court.

After releasing from Adiala Jail, Hashmi strongly criticised the NAB. He called for action against NAB which he claimed was the "most corrupt institution in the country". He said that his life and livelihood were in the hands of the Almighty, not in the hands of the conspirators. “This is the height of oppression,” Hashmi said.

He said that prisons were filled with "75-year-old men, people who needed bypass surgery and those targeted by NAB". "Who are you holding accountable? And who are you anyway? I stand by what I said [earlier]," he said.

On being asked if he was "ashamed" of his statement that landed him in jail, Hashmi declared that only a "fraud, thief or a person who took undue advantage of power would be embarrassed". Former senator asked those gathered around him, whom he said anything against, when he mentioned the name of the judiciary.

Former senator had criticised judiciary for investigating former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family in the Panama Papers case. He was expelled from the PML-N following his speech and Sharif demanded the former senator to resign from his Senate seat.

The SC had taken notice of Hashmi's remarks against the judiciary. A three-member SC bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Dost Muhammad on February 1 sentenced Hashmi one month imprisonment and fine of Rs50,000 after finding him guilty of contempt of court. He was also barred from holding public office for the next five years.