Capt (R) Safdar appears before Panama JIT

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Capt (retd) Safdar speaks to media after appearing before the Panama case JIT - Geo News screen grab 

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s son-in-law, Captain (retd) Safdar, appeared before the joint investigation team (JIT) constituted by the Supreme Court to probe businesses and financial dealings of the people mentioned in the Panama Papers.

Safdar was present before the JIT for approximately five hours. 

Speaking to the media, Safdar said he would not disclose what took place during his appearance before the JIT as the matter was pending in court.

"We stand to protect the '73 constitution." 

“Panama case is not against Nawaz Sharif – it is against the Nawaz Sharif who made Pakistan a nuclear power, the one who made motorways, steered Pakistan away from darkness,” said the premier's son-in-law. 

Safrdar added he was treated well by the JIT members and questioned why no one was questioning the people who have palaces in Surrey.

He also called on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan to distance himself from conspiracies against Pakistan. 

“History will remember you for this,” Safdar warned the PTI chief.

The Panama case was not accountability of Nawaz Sharif but rather of the two-nation theory. 

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Asif Kirmani accompanied the latest member of the Sharif family to appear before the JIT.

Earlier this week, the JIT had rejected Safdar’s application of changing the date of his hearing.

Yesterday, former interior minister, Senator Rehman Malik, appeared before the JIT. While talking to the media after his session, Malik said he confirmed every word of his report — already submitted to the Supreme Court — including the two letters written to Former president Rafiq Tarar. 

He also criticised ‘propoganda’ against his party, saying his political opponents had been claiming since the past 15 days that the Pakistan Peoples Party has entered into a deal to save Nawaz.

“I am not here to save or entrap anyone...neither am I here to avenge anyone,” the former interior minister had said.

Taking a jibe at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairperson Imran Khan, Malik had said the latter claimed of struggling for the Sharif family's accountability, but it was him (Malik) who “prepared the pitch for the ground.”

On June 15, Nawaz became the first sitting prime minister to appear before a JIT, formed by the Supreme Court to investigate alleged corruption by the first family, following the Panama Papers revelations.

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif was summoned before the JIT on June 17, whereas sons of the Prime Minister, Hussain and Hassan Nawaz, have so far made multiple appearances before the probe panel.

The prime minister has denied that his family used offshore companies to buy luxury flats in a posh London neighbourhood, saying his family wealth was acquired legally.

In April, the Supreme Court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to remove Nawaz from office on the back of the Panama Papers leaks, but it ordered further investigations under a JIT.

The JIT comprises officials from the Federal Investigation Agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, State Bank of Pakistan and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).