Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif Appears Before Panama Papers Probe Panel
According to official sources, more than 2,500 security personnel have been deployed.
advertisement
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday appeared before a Supreme Court-appointed team probing the Panamagate graft case, becoming the country’s first sitting premier to depose before such a panel.
A seemingly-relaxed Sharif arrived at the Judicial Academy – which has been temporarily turned into the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) secretariat – amid tight security.
The 67-year-old PML-N leader – who was accompanied by his eldest son Hussain Nawaz, brother Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar – waved at party workers and responded to their chants before entering the building.
A large number of PML-N supporters had assembled near the JIT secretariat, waving their party flags and chanting pro- Nawaz slogans.
Dawn reported that the prime minister will face the six-member JIT panel alone. It was not known for how long the JIT will question him.
The summons was issued to Sharif after he returned last Saturday from Kazakhstan, where he had attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.
In its judgement of 20 April in the Panama Papers case, the Supreme Court had constituted a JIT and empowered it to summon the prime minister, his sons and any other person necessary, to investigate allegations of money-laundering, through which the four apartments in London's posh Park Lane area were purchased.
The Joint Investigation Team had questioned Sharif's sons – Hussain and Hasan – last month over the family's alleged improper business dealings.
His eldest son Hussain was questioned five times while Hasan, the younger son, was summoned twice.
The court last year took up the case and issued a split decision over allegations of money laundering when Sharif was prime minister in 1990s.
On 5 May, the Supreme Court set up a high-level six-member JIT to probe Sharif and his sons' alleged corruption in the Panama Papers case.
It is for the first time that a sitting prime minister is appearing before a high-level probe team, traditionally constituted to investigate high-profile criminal cases.
The JIT probing the offshore holdings of Prime Minister Sharif and his children has also summoned his younger brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to appear before it on 17 June.
(This admission season, The Quint got experts from CollegeDekho.com on board to answer all your college-related queries. Send us your questions at eduqueries@thequint.com.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)