ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation Agency Additional Director and head of now-defunct joint investigation team Wajid Zia began recording his statement in the Al Azizia reference against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday.
Zia, who has already testified in the Avenfield properties reference, informed the court about his appointment as the JIT’s head and the Supreme Court’s terms of reference with regards to the probe. He said that the JIT work involved determining the ownership of the Sharif family’s assets.
He informed the court that the JIT send mutual legal assistance (MLA) requests to the UAE and Saudi Arabia with regard to the case. Saudis didn’t respond to any MLA request, he added.
Zia stated that the JIT wrote to the foreign secretary on May 13, asking them to deliver their letter to Qatari prince Hammad bin Jassim. “On May 15, the foreign secretary informed us that the letter has been despatched,” he said, adding that on May 18, Foreign Office official Afaq Ahmad informed them that the letter has been delivered. Sharif family counsel Kh Harris then argued that Ahmad appeared in court earlier but never revealed this incident.
Zia also provided details of other correspondence of the JIT with regards to the Qatari prince, a close aide of the Sharif family and their business partner. During the hearing, Haris and the NAB prosecutor also exchanged harsh words over the prosecution’s objections to the defence counsel’s constant questioning.
Nawaz and his family are facing three corruption cases in the accountability court after NAB filed references against them in light of the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Panama Papers case last year.
On Wednesday, while hearing the Avenfield reference, Accountability Court Judge Mohammad Bashir had remarked that the decisions on all three references against the accused will be given together.
The testimonies of the prosecution witnesses in the Avenfield case completed at the last hearing.
The trial against the Sharif family had commenced on September 14, 2017 with a six-month deadline.
Published in Daily Times, May 11th 2018.
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