Islamabad March 16 (TNS): Wajid Zia, who had headed the JIT that probed the Panama Papers against the Sharifs, on Friday submitted a letter purportedly written by Qatari prince Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani to the probe team.
Zia appeared in the court as a prosecution witness in the Avenfield properties reference filed against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar, who all appeared before the trail court before they were exempted from today’s haering after they filed an application seeking exemption.
Trial Court judge quizzed Zia over the authenticity and veracity of the letter, to which Zia said that he had obtained the letter from the Supreme Court registrar office. The former JIT head also submitted other supporting documents as a proof. The defence counsel Khawaja Haris argued that the latter furnished today was different from the one furnished in the court yesterday. To which, Zia said that the letter was original while the one presented on Thursday was a photocopy.
The hearing has been paused and when the trial court resumes hearing, the defendant’s counsel will cross-examine the prosecution witness.
Zia also recorded his statement in court and was cross-examined by the defendants’ counsel.
Maryam Nawaz counsel Amjad Pervez raised objection that the documents submitted by Zia contain signatures of NAB Rawalpindi Director General Irfan Mangi, another member of the JIT. The counsel said Mangi could himself submit the documents when it was his turn to appear before the court as a witness.
Talking to the media, Nawaz sharif said that there was a dire need to fix the judiciary in terms of backlog of cases and delay. He said that judiciary reforms will be part of their manifesto for the upcoming general election.
