Sharifs to miss accountability court hearing today

Islamabad, Sept 19: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his children are not going to appear before the Accountability Court (AC) today as they are out of the country, in London. Following the Panama case verdict on July 28, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed three references in the court of Muhammad Bashir against Nawaz, his sons Hussain and Hassan, and daughter Maryam. The court fixed September 19 for initial hearing but the accused are in London. According to a senior party leader, neither they nor their counsel will appear before the court. The references filed against Nawaz and his children included Avenfield properties (Flat No 16 and 16-A, 17 and 17-A, Avenfield House, Park Lane, London), Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Company, Jeddah and Flagship Investment Limited comprising 16 offshore companies owned by the Sharif family. The references were framed after the Supreme Court verdict, which resulted in disqualification of Nawaz as Prime Minister. The former premier along with his two sons is in London where his spouse Kulsoom Nawaz underwent throat surgery. Maryam and her spouse Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar left for London on Monday morning. Nawaz and his family missed the NAB probe, taking the plea that they had filed a review petition against the Panama case verdict. NAB investigators however continued their probe on the basis of JIT findings and filed the references, a report in The Nation said today. Some senior ruling party leaders and even Maryam hinted at missing the NAB court hearing. It was decided that they would not be represented by their lawyer even. The court would re-summon the accused and direct the prosecution to serve them with fresh notices. Sources in the PML-N said Nawaz would hold meetings with senior party leaders in London where Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi would also stop over after his UN General Assembly address on September 21. During the meetings, the party would devise its strategy to deal with issues on both political and legal fronts, especially the NAB cases, The Nation report said. A legal expert said if the Sharif family continues to miss the court proceedings, the accused could be declared proclaimed offenders after due process of law and even the court could order confiscation of their moveable and immoveable properties in the country. UNI