Maryam appears before JIT, says no case against us

• PM’s daughter says she is strength, not weakness of her father
• PML-N leader says put questions to investigators after session

Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Maryam Nawaz, who is daughter of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said on Wednesday that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Sharif family’s assets has no case against them.

Talking to journalists after her questioning by the JIT at the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA), she said that she answered honestly all the questions asked by the investigators. “I asked them once their questions ended: What we are accused of? They didn’t have an answer!” she added.

“After six months in the Supreme Court and 70 days in the JIT, I realised today, they have nothing against us,” she explained. “This is the first JIT in the world that has been formed before knowing what charges to level,” she said.

She vowed there was not a shred of evidence against Nawaz Sharif over misuse of public funds, saying not a penny has been misappropriated. “I was also [wrongly] involved in the Dawn Leaks case. The reason is the same: to put a father under pressure by targeting his daughter,” she said.

“Everyone knows that in Islamic culture the daughter is considered most dear to his father. But they’ll discover that Nawaz Sharif’s daughter is his strength, not weakness. I’m the daughter of someone who taught me to stand up for what’s right, and not bow down before injustice,” she added.

Maryam said they too could have used technicalities to hide in the corridors of power – like diverting their vehicle to a hospital after ‘back pain [excuse]’ or becoming an absconder, hiding in an official rest house in Nathiagali – but they have presented accountability for three generations.

“Those saying they’ll make us cry should know only God can make us bow down and cry… [and] because we belong to the ruling family, our judgment by God will be the most strict,” she added. She also warned her father’s detractors that they should fear the day PM Sharif brings out the skeletons from their closets.

“The secrets he carries and the conspiracies against him – don’t push him to the point where he must reveal those,” she said. “If you conspire against Nawaz Sharif, he will return stronger than before… He will become PM for the fourth, fifth time. Stop him if you can,” she challenged.

“Stop him or the power crisis will end. Stop him or the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be completed. Stop him or he will win the 2018 election.” She also said beware of the day that Nawaz Sharif will take all this scrutiny to the people in 2018. It is important to note that after concluding her speech, she did not take any questions from the media.

Following the speech, the premier’s son Hussain Nawaz briefly took the mic, saying questions over money trails should also be asked from those who have assets in Pakistan. On arrival at the Federal Judicial Academy, Maryum was accompanied by Hussain Nawaz, Hassan Nawaz, Captain Safdar and State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb.

Before proceeding inside for the session, Maryam waved to supporters gathered outside the academy. Prior to her departure from the PM House, a picture started circulating on media, as well as social media, wherein Maryam was seen embracing her mother Kalsoom Nawaz, who is holding the Holy Quran.

Maryam was likely questioned by all six JIT members, after National Accountability Bureau’s Irfan Mangi and Military Intelligence’s Brigadier Kamran Khurshid returned to the country early on Wednesday following a day’s visit to Dubai.

‘DUBAI EXCURSION:’ Talking to the media after Maryam proceeded for the JIT session, Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Asif Kirmani, citing media reports, criticised the recent ‘Dubai excursion’ of the two JIT members, as it did not include recording the Qatari prince’s statement.

Once again, he criticised the JIT’s alleged decision to not record the Qatari prince’s statement, which goes in favour of the Sharif family. He pleaded the Supreme Court to order the JIT to record the prince’s statement, adding that failure to do so would make the JIT report ‘the most controversial ever’.

He further alleged that the two JIT members travelled to Dubai in ‘business class’, saying the people will hold them accountable for ‘wasting’ public money. Islamabad Police extended the security perimeter around the academy prior to Maryam’s arrival and deployed more than 2,500 personnel on various security duties in light of Maryam’s visit.

Four SPs, 11 DSPs and 13 inspectors were overseeing the security plan, with Special Branch SP Arsala Saleem deputed specifically for the security of the premier’s daughter. Contingents of the Rangers and the Frontier Constabulary were also deployed around the academy since early morning. These security measures were also put in place on June 15, when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appeared before the JIT.

In Rawalpindi, a rally led by PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi and the city’s mayor Sardar Nasim forced its way towards the FJA after removing police barriers. The I-9 police attempted to restrict the highly-charged PML-N supporters but they forced their way onward, and did not even heed to the call of their party leaders.

Traffic police had earlier closed down the main road into Sector H-8—where the academy is situated—from the I-8 Interchange and later blocked the Islamabad Expressway from the Faizabad Interchange in light of Maryam’s arrival. A long queue of vehicles lined up on the highway as a result, frustrating commuters between the twin cities.

Maryam becomes the sixth member of the Sharif family to be questioned by the JIT, with her father, uncle Shehbaz Sharif, brothers Hussain and Hasan, and husband Muhammad Safdar appearing before her.