Al-Azizia reference: Wajid records his statement, produces documents

ISLAMABAD: JIT head Wajid Zia on Thursday recorded his statement in Al-Azizia/Hill Metal Establishment corruption reference before the accountability court and presented the statements of Hussain Nawaz, Hassan Nawaz and Maryam Nawaz, which they had submitted before the Supreme Court.

These statements were made part of the court record, to which Khawaja Haris, the counsel for Nawaz, objected and said Maryam was not an accused in the Al Azizia reference, while Hussain and Hassan had not appeared before this (accountability) court. Therefore, the statements could not form part of the court record, he added.

Wajid also presented the share sales agreements of Gulf Steel Mills (GSM) dated 1975 and 1980, partnership agreement between Tariq Shafi and Abdullah Kayed Ahli, Letter of Credit by a Dubai bank and banking accounts record of Nawaz. Haris raised many objections over the documents regarding their admissibility and relevance.

Wajid also submitted an audit report of Al-Dar Audit Bureau and said the document covered the period from 2010 to 2015. He said his report was also submitted by Hussain and mistakenly it was written on the document that it was a ‘source’ document.

Wajid also provided details of how the JIT received Hamad bin Jassim’s letter and how it wrote a letter to him. As he produced the letter, Haris raised an objection that it was photocopy, not original.

At the start of proceedings, Wajid narrated the whole background of the formation of JIT and what questions were framed for it to address.

The Supreme Court had tasked the JIT with explaining how the GSM was established, how its sale proceeds reached Qatar and then to United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. The JIT was also asked to find about the veracity of the letter of Qatari Prince Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Khalifa Al Thani.

Wajid said he JIT had to investigate whether Nawaz was the real owner or benamidar of the assets in question.

It was also discussed in the accountability whether or not to record the statements of the accused in the Avenfield reference.

The NAB prosecutor said the defence still not disclosed which witnesses it wanted to produce before the court. “We would have to arrange in case they also produce some witnesses,” NAB prosecutor said.

The accountability court judge, Muhammad Bashir, addressing to Haris said his defence was still to come and “we don’t know whether you produce some foreigners as witnesses.

The proceedings will resume today (Friday) as Wajid will continue recording his statement.