Panama JIT was biased, says Nawaz
Panama JIT was biased, says Nawaz
News Desk
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Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday cast doubts over the joint investigation team saying they were biased and lacked proper evidence.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday cast doubts over the joint investigation team saying they were biased and lacked proper evidence.

The former premier went on to say that statements recorded in Panama Joint Investigation Tribunal (JIT) were not credible.

Judge Arshad Malik presided the hearing in the Al-Azizia reference against the former premier in the accountability court in Islamabad. Nawaz was present for a fourth day to record his statements. The PML-N supremo has to answer 151 questions. According to Express News Nawaz has recorded his answers for 147 questions, while he is expected to record the answers of the remaining questions on Thursday.

The former prime minister told the court, “that the money in my account from abroad is correct, however the statements recorded in front of the JIT were not acceptable and credible.”

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Statements recorded by an investigation agency cannot be presented in court as evidence, and that the Panama JIT’s investigations were biased and lacked proper evidence, Nawaz said during the proceeding.

The former PML-N president stated that he didn’t fight Hassan and Hussain Nawaz’s case in the Supreme Court, and that their statements cannot be used against him without any evidence.” The statements recorded by JIT have no legal standing,” Nawaz stated.

The former premier got emotional while recording his statements and addressing the judge directly, stated that he had no idea why this case was even initiated in the first place, adding that “the prosecution would not know as well why this case was initiated.”

Continuing his tirade, Nawaz said, “People worldwide study and conduct businesses abroad, how is it a miracle if my children sent money abroad?

“My children would have been accused had they had businesses in Pakistan and even now when they have businesses abroad they are being accused.”

Nawaz went on to add that, “It’s a good thing my children conducted business abroad, I was in politics hence didn’t have the time to pay attention to it.”

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The National Accountability Court NAB prosecutor responded to Nawaz’s tirade saying that “the case is not about you owning business abroad, rather how you did business abroad.”

Nawaz responded that if the government hadn’t forced his family out his children would have setup their businesses in Pakistan.

“We were forced to leave in 1971, then again in 1999, even though I wasn’t in politics in 1971,” the former premier added.

“We didn’t leave the country out of our own will if my children didn’t go out would they have spent their entire life begging?”

There is no evidence of corruption and receiving kickback against us, Nawaz maintained.