- Ex-minister calls his name on ECL extreme step, attempt to frame him; hits out at NAB for targeting Sindh lawmakers; CM Murad says politically-motivated interference of institutions will not be tolerated
Former Sindh information minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior leader Sharjeel Inam Memon severely criticised the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for what he believes “for only targeting lawmakers of the Sindh province.”
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, he said that he had returned to Pakistan to face all the pending cases against him. “Putting my name in the Exit Control List (ECL) was an attempt to frame me as no government institution informed me prior to its issuance and no investigation was initiated against me,” he said.
“I was never given a notice. I was never called for an investigation. There was no case, neither an FIR nor an inquiry,” he said, adding that he had approached the high court to find out why his name was put on the ECL. Putting someone’s name on the ECL without issuing any prior notice to them was an extreme step, he maintained.
He accused the anti-corruption watchdog of favouring certain ministers over others. “The Supreme Court had told NAB to put together a list of mega-corruption scams. When the list was presented, it contained the name of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and many other ministers from Punjab,” he said.
“But once the list was presented before the court, were the names of those people placed on the ECL too,” he questioned. “If the law is the same for everyone, why weren’t their names also included in the ECL like his,” he asked. Memon also accused the ministers and politicians of subjecting NAB to harsh criticism after the anti-corruption body released the list, claiming that NAB stopped conducting its investigations in Punjab following the harsh criticism.
“If I am found guilty, I will not seek any leniency in the punishment,” he maintained. Memon concluded his almost two years long self-imposed exile and returned to Pakistan on Saturday. He was arrested at the Benazir Bhutto Airport in Islamabad and taken to NAB office, where he was later released after verification of his bail before arrest orders and written undertaking from his lawyer.
Talking to journalists in Hyderabad, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah strongly criticised the brief detention of Sharjeel Memon, saying politically-motivated interference of institutions will not be tolerated. Sharjeel Memon returned after getting permission from the Islamabad High Court, he said.
He said that the court had ordered that Sharjeel Memon should not be arrested before a hearing in court. He said that only PPP members were being targeted and had Memon been called, he would’ve appeared himself. “We have always respected courts. Sharjeel would appear before the court and we will accept the decision of the court,” he added.
Talking about the detention of Farooq Sattar, the chief minister said that the MQM Pakistan leader was not arrested, as per his information. He said that warrants against Sattar were issued several months ago but he never got bail for them. On Sunday morning, Memon was released after being briefly detained by the National Accountability Bureau from the Benazir Bhutto Airport in Islamabad.
Memon spoke to his family members and the chief minister after being released. NAB released the former provincial minister after getting verification and undertaking on his bail before arrest from his lawyer Shakeel Abbasi. He is facing several charges of monetary misappropriation and corruption.
The NAB chairman had filed a reference against Memon in connection with alleged misconduct in payments regarding advertising campaigns. Memon rebuffed the accusations leveled against him, saying he had never fled from the country. The former minister said that the references on the charges of corruption were filed against him months after he had left the country over medical grounds.
Revealing details about his arrest last night, Memon said people in plain clothes had come to arrest him. “I asked them to introduce themselves. But they never did. I kept asking them in the car that who were they. But they never introduced themselves until we reached the NAB office,” Memon claimed. He rejected the way he was nabbed, saying he will not call it an arrest but will term it kidnapping.
