JIT head submits Qatari letter as evidence in Avenfield reference

• Defence counsel refrains from objecting to admissibility of Qatari prince’s letter as evidence
• Nawaz Sharif says judicial system needs to be reformed

ISLAMABAD: Wajid Zia, head of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing corruption allegations against members of the Sharif family, presented former Qatari Prince Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber alThani’s letter defending the Sharif family as evidence in court, as the hearing of the Avenfield reference resumed on Thursday.

The defense counsel did not raise any objections to the admissibility of the Qatari letter as evidence.

The letter, written by Thani, owes up to Nawaz’s previous allegations, and claims that such letters exist. In July 2017, the JIT declared the Sharif family’s prime and final defence – the letters from Qatari Prince Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber alThani – as “totally a myth rather than a reality”, adding that the ruling family had never invested 12 million dirhams in the Qatari royal family’s business.

The hearing began with both defense and prosecutions counsels arguing over whether the entire compilation of the JIT report should be admissible as evidence. “The admissibility of the opinion form within the JIT report is still under consideration. The court will announce its decision soon,” Judge Muhammad Bashir said.

Amid arguments on the topic, Zia continued to record his statement and included parts of the report as evidence he gathered himself and through the JIT’s official research. The court gave the defense an option of raising objections to the inclusion of excerpts from the report.

Zia’s complete statement could not be recorded and is expected to be documented by the next hearing on Friday.

While the judge permitted Nawaz and Maryam to leave the court, the duo stayed put for the length of recording of Zia’s statement.

Maryam’s counsel Amjad Pervez and the prosecutor argued over the defence’s plea to not make the entire JIT report part of the court record.

The judge, after a short recess, partially approved the plea and ordered that the JIT report’s analysis and the statements of witnesses it recorded will not be made part of court record.

Maryam’s counsel also objected to Zia’s submission of documents signed by NAB’s Irfan Mangi, who was a member of the JIT. He argued that Mangi can submit the documents if and when he appears in court as a witness.

Zia responded that he should be allowed to submit the documents his way, to which the judge inquired as to where the source material of the JIT report originated from.

‘REFORMS NEEDED IN JUDICIAL SYSTEM’:

Speaking to journalists inside the court as formal chit-chat, Nawaz said all cases pending against others are of corruption but his is on assets.

“They ask me of my documents from 1970s and ask me where I obtained them, this is all before my political career began,” he said.

Commenting on the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) alliance with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Nawaz said, “Imran has abandoned all his morals and principles with this alliance. He stated before that he could never join hands with Zardari, but he did. He abandoned the youth, the people and his morals. He is just trying to gain something out of this.”

When asked whether he would consider writing a book on his political struggle and his three time premiership, he replied saying, “I have good and bad experiences both, whatever I do is for the good of the country, but I haven’t thought about it yet.”

Nawaz also spoke about Tehreek-e-Adl (The Justice Movement) on which he worked in the first three years after being elected the prime minister. “At first, this movement was for the judges, now it’s for justice, for swift and easy justice.”

Speaking on the outcome of the Senate elections, Nawaz said, “Who is this Sadiq Sanjrani? Who told Bani Gala where he lives, who told Bilawal House where he lives? Who told them to form a unison and vote for this man? Who is behind all of this? Investigate,” he urged the journalists.

“Raza Rabbani and Raja Zafarul Haq were the best nominations or the position of Senate chairman, unfortunately, that did not happen,” he said.

He said that the party’s manifesto would now have words that call for elements to respect the vote of people. He said that it was a challenge for the government of PML-N to manage the affairs when it came into power in 2013.

Nawaz said he is not in favour of conflict and only desires that the country is run according to the law and constitution, adding that, “is it wrong to wish this?”