LAHORE – Even as the storm following the leak of a controversial photo of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s elder son has not settled, the person who first tweeted the image has put a testimony on record – along with another shocking claim in an exclusive statement sent to Daily Pakistan.
“I didn’t know how true the phrase ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ was until I tweeted the picture of Hussain Nawaz,” says the twitterati, who handles @takentweets on the social networking site.
The social media user (who preferred not be named) in his written testimony provided to Daily Pakistan added, “The firestorm that has been built around me since the 3rd of June, 2017 has been unfair & misguided. My intent was not to defend why or how a picture was sent to me but to release the picture into the public for an open discussion.
“Instead, this was turned into an ongoing accusation game to degrade and attack the honourable judiciary, which I will not allow myself to become a party to.”
Revealing the ‘real’ source of photo leak, the social media activist claimed “on 3rd June, 2017, the picture of Hussain Nawaz was posted on a Whatsapp group by a member of the PMLN’s social media team”.
While @takentweets (who insists on remaining anonymous) claims that he received the controversial photo from PMLN social media team member, his claims could not be independently verified.
“Not being a journalist, I didn’t find myself compelled to confirm the intent or the exact location of the said image, as the only thing on my mind was the interest it offered to the people of Pakistan. This image was very interesting to the people, in my opinion, so I tweeted the photo.
As “the so called leak of the said picture was then blamed on the opposition political parties and used to degrade and attack the honourable judiciary, calling their impartiality into question”, the social media user says “I am putting this statement forward for my own integrity and in the defense of the judiciary.”
“I will not allow myself to be used to insult the judiciary nor be framed by the same people who originally gave me the picture to begin with,” he added.
In the end of his statement, the twitterati added that he hoped “the people of Pakistan can make a fair judgment to determine the truth.”
Hussain Nawaz in SC over ‘photo leak’
Last week, a CCTV image of Hussain Nawaz’s appearance before the joint investigation team (JIT) probing allegations of money laundering against the Sharif family made headlines.
Taking the matter to the apex court through senior lawyer Khawaja Haris, the PM’s son sought the formation of a commission to investigate the controversial photo leak as he claimed that the photo leak was against ethical and legal codes.
In his request, Hussain alleged that JIT members have been “pressuring every witness … to change his statement and even to implicate specific persons in wrongdoing”. He held that recording videos of the JIT’s proceedings was akin to “pressurising” witnesses appearing before the body.
Hussain added that the recording of proceedings does not allow witnesses to “speak without being treated like a criminal”.
The PM’s son requested the court to prohibit the JIT from recording videos of the proceedings to ensure that the “investigation is held in an independent manner and justice is being done.”
He further requested the SC to form a commission that is led by a retired or serving judge to investigate the matter of his picture’s leaking.
