Nawaz, Maryam exempted from appearance as Avenfield reference hearing continues

ISLAMABAD – Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were exempted from physical appearance before the accountability court in the Avenfield properties reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau, on Friday. As the hearing was started by Judge Muhammad Bashir, the court approved the exemption request of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and daughter Maryam as they could not depart from Lahore due to the inclement weather and traffic blockade, however, Nawaz’s son-in-law MNA Capt (retd) Safdar is present in court. Meanwhile, Wajid Zia, the head of six-member Joint Investigation team formed by the apex court, would be cross-examined by the secondary defence counsel Amjad Pervez on third day today (Friday). The Avenfield properties reference is among three filed against Nawaz and his family by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) last year on the Supreme Court’s directives, which also disqualified Nawaz Sharif as premier and party head. During the last hearing of the case, Wajid Zia admitted that the material against Maryam Nawaz and her husband Captain (r) Safdar was collected by ISI. On Wednesday, Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Haris concluded Zia’s cross-examination in the Avenfield case after grilling him for ten days. After Haris concluded his cross-examination, Maryam’s counsel took his place and began his cross-examination which is likely to continue for at least a week.