Hang me or jail me but hear me too: Nawaz

ISLAMABAD: Beleaguered former prime minister and PML-N Quaid Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar could summon his case from the accountability court and hang him or dispatch him to jail.

“If they want to hang me, they can….if they want to send us to the jail, they can,” he said while talking to the reporters outside the accountability court (AC) after attending proceedings in the Avenfield apartments corruption reference.

Nawaz said the Supreme Court is influencing his case before the upcoming general elections. He said the apex court directions for number of hearings are unprecedented. He said on the one hand the apex court wanted to wrap up this case, on the other hand a

discussion is going on about putting his name on the Exit Control List (ECL). “I have learnt through newspapers that former military dictator General (retd) Musharraf may be given maximum relaxation. The chief justice of Pakistan has asked Musharraf to come back without fear. If they want to put my name on the ECL, they should do it, but a man who abrogated the Constitution and arrested judges is being welcomed in Pakistan, while a man who made Pakistan a nuclear power and pulled the country out of loadshedding is being put on the ECL,” said Nawaz. Continuing, he said terrorism started in the country during General Musharraf’s tenure but he was being welcomed back while a person who eliminated terrorism was being put on the ECL.

Nawaz said a person against whom embezzlement of not a single penny could be proved is facing courts while those who embezzled billions of rupees were roaming free. He said the media knew those people who had looted billions of rupees and their cases were pending with the courts for decades.

Referring to the CJP’s earlier remarks about his approaching the court seeking exemption for the sake of publicity, Nawaz said he didn’t file any application with the Supreme Court and had only filed an application with the Accountability Court that was dismissed.

Meanwhile, talking to the media inside the court, Nawaz said his lawyers had brought everything in their defence and it is the NAB that failed to prove its case and allegations. Asked why he failed to bring any witness in their favour, Nawaz said: “People who are asking about our assets should fear Allah. Our family had a big business prior to the Partition. Why would I receive salary from my son?”

Nawaz said he had appeared before the Accountability Court almost one hundred times but a person who abrogated the Constitution was sitting pretty outside the country. “What will be the value of elections in these conditions? The people who think I will agree to their terms fearing these appearances before the courts are misjudging,” he said.

When told that there are rumors about a deal, Nawaz waved the Supreme Court order and asked if it is the deal he was being asked about. He termed the July 10 deadline set by the SC for conclusion of the trial in the corruption cases pending against him pre-poll rigging.

Nawaz said his counsel Khawaja Haris had rightly expressed his apprehension before the Supreme Court and to have a counsel of his own choice is a fundamental right that no could deny him. He lamented the SC directions and said the apex court should have addressed their apprehensions.