Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday requested the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to review the evidence linked to a controversial video and statement of former accountability judge Arshad Malik before deciding the PML-N supremo’s appeal against his conviction in the Al Azizia case.
Last month, Nawaz’s lawyer Khawaja Haris had urged the two-judge bench hearing his appeal to include “verified copies” of a press release and an affidavit submitted to IHC by judge Malik — following the release of a controversial video of the judge — to the paper book of the former premier’s petition. The request was granted by the court.
The petition submitted by Nawaz’s lawyer today stated that Malik’s statement “showed one side of the argument” and urged the court to hear the “other side” as well.
He appealed the court to take into consideration the arguments and evidence regarding the judge’s video before passing a verdict on his previous appeal.
In December 2018, Nawaz was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined Rs1.5 billion and US $25 million after then accountability judge Malik found him guilty in the Al Azizia corruption case. The former premier, who is currently in Kot Lakhpat jail, filed an appeal against the conviction in the IHC.
In July this year, Nawaz’s daughter Maryam Nawaz called the judgement into question after showing a video clip in which Malik allegedly confessed that he had been “blackmailed” into convicting Nawaz. Maryam, who is currently in NAB custody, had called for an overturning of Nawaz’s conviction.
Malik was removed from his position after the video was released and has been repatriated to the Lahore High Court where disciplinary proceedings against him will be held.
While deciding a set of petitions regarding the video leak scandal, the Supreme Court had in August ruled that, “The relevant video cannot be of any legal benefit to Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif unless it is properly produced before the Islamabad High Court, Islamabad in the pending appeal, its genuineness is established and then the same is proved in accordance with the law for it to be treated as evidence in the case.”
