–NAB arrests Maryam, her cousin Yousaf Abbas in sugar mills case
–Shehbaz Sharif terms arrest ‘wrong step, extremely shameful’
–PPP chief Bilawal takes PM Imran to task for arresting senior Opp leader without conviction, walks out of NA session
LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday in a case pertaining to Chaudhry Sugar Mills after she skipped the NAB hearing to meet her incarcerated father in jail.
Maryam was supposed to appear before the accountability watchdog at 3pm to answer a questionnaire based on six questions in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case. However, anti-graft officials reached prison and detained her on the directives of NAB chief Javed Iqbal.
According to a press release issued by NAB, “Maryam and her cousin Yousuf Abbas have been arrested in connection to the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.” “As per the law, they will be presented before an accountability court in Lahore for remand tomorrow,” it added.
A team of doctors will shortly conduct a medical examination of both detainees, said the statement issued following the arrest.
Maryam, a supposed shareholder in the mills, is accused of involvement in suspicious transactions worth billions along with her father Nawaz Sharif, uncle Shehbaz Sharif and other members of the Sharif family. During her last appearance before NAB, she was grilled for at least 45 minutes and was handed over a questionnaire.
The bureau had also asked her to appear before it again on August 8, saying that she had failed to satisfy NAB with her answers.
PML-N VP Maryam Nawaz made headlines with her scathing criticism of the government, especially the prime minister. She also released a purported video of Arshad Malik, an accountability judge who sentenced Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia case, last month wherein the judge could be heard saying that he convicted the ex-prime minister under duress. In light of the video, the PML-N leader had demanded the release of her father.
Besides, Maryam had also launched a countrywide campaign ‘Free Nawaz Sharif’ and held multiple rallies in various cities of Pakistan, including one in Quetta on July 25.
Her press conferences and rallies were censored by mainstream electronic media, and disseminated through social media, owing to her conviction in the Avenfield case.
On July 6, 2018, an accountability court in Islamabad sentenced former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to 10-year imprisonment after finding him guilty in the Avenfield properties case.
In the same reference, Maryam was sentenced to seven-year imprisonment, while her husband Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar was given one-year jail. Nawaz, Maryam and Safdar were released in September last year when the Islamabad High Court suspended their sentences.
‘OPP LAMBASTE GOVT OVER ARREST’:
NAB’s decision to arrest the firebrand PML-N leader was condemned by the opposition parties, drawing the ire of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari during a session of the National Assembly.
The opposition accused the government of being blinded by political revenge.
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif dubbed Maryam’s arrest as a “wrong step” and said that her “arrest in front of Nawaz Sharif and his grandchildren is extremely shameful”.
“The government neither has the capacity nor the wisdom to understand the sensitivity of the situation. It is blinded by political revenge,” he said. What message is being given to the public by the arrest of Maryam right before Eid?” Shehbaz questioned.
PML-N leaders, including Marriyum Aurangzeb and Ahsan Iqbal, also accused the government of political victimisation, and protested against the detention outside the National Assembly.
PML-N stalwart Ahsan Iqbal accused the government of “concealing” something by “trying to divert the nation’s attention from Kashmir” by issue by arresting Maryam.
In his address during the NA session that ended in a walkout, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said: “The cruel tyrant Ziaul Haq was the only dictator who filed cases against the women of his political opponents’ families.”
“We are seeing this trend once again in this Naya Pakistan; you [Prime Minister Imran] are so shameless […] History will remember that Imran Khan, who talked about justice […] (sanctioned) the arrest of Maryam Nawaz without a conviction,” Bilawal said before walking out of the House.
پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی کے چیئرمین نے مریم نواز کی گرفتاری پر ایوان سے واک آؤٹ کردیا، واک آؤٹ کرتے ہوئے بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ ہم نے آمر ضیاء کو دیکھا تھا جو سیاسی مخالفین کی عورتوں کے پیچھے پڑجاتا تھا اور نئے آمرانہ پاکستان میں ہم یہ پھر دیکھ رہے ہیں pic.twitter.com/CMUlIUwsWo
— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) August 8, 2019
PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari also bashed the government for Maryam’s arrest and said that the anti-corruption watchdog “want to arrest his sister (Faryal Talpur) as well”. Meanwhile, a resolution was submitted in the Punjab Assembly against the arrest of the senior PML-N leader.
The arrest comes a day after the arrest of PML-N leader Miftah Ismail in LNG case after his bail was rejected by the Islamabad High Court. Besides Miftah and Maryam, PML-N leaders Nawaz Sharif, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Salman Rafique, Hamza Shehbaz are already in NAB custody.
While, PPP leaders Asif Ali Zardari, Faryal Talpur, Siraj Durrani are also in detention. The opposition accuses the government of using NAB as its tool to victimise rivals, a charge which the PTI government denies.
