ISLAMABAD: Special Adviser to PM on Interior and Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar on Saturday rejected “premature claims” of victory put forward by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in a case pertaining to embezzlement of foreign aid money against the family of National Assembly opposition leader and party’s president Shahbaz Sharif.
In a 2019 story, Daily Mail, a British publication, claimed members of the Sharif family were involved in large-scale money laundering of funds provided by now-defunct Department for International Development (DFID) for the poor and the rehabilitation of the victims of the deadly 2005 earthquake.
Subsequently, Sharif — through Carter-Ruck Solicitors, a London-based legal firm — launched a defamation suit against the publication.
Following a preliminary hearing to decide the meaning of the words complained of, Queen’s Bench Division of High Court of Justice, London on Friday observed the claims fitted into Chase Level 1 defamation, meaning Sharif is guilty of wrongdoing (as opposed to a meaning that there are reasonable grounds to suspect him of wrongdoing).
The publisher, Justice Matthew Nicklin said, would have to prove that he is guilty of the act he has been accused of in the story.
The preliminary hearing is not a ruling on the lawsuit. The trial in the coming months will determine if the story was in fact defamatory according to the British legal system.
Responding to the ruling, PML-N sought Sharif’s release with party’s central spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb claiming the observation was “proof of Shahbaz Sharif’s innocence and Imran Khan’s false cases” against the former.
پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن) کی ترجمان مریم اورنگزیب کا ڈیلی میل ہتک عزت کیس میں فیصلہ آنے کے بعد شہبازشریف کی رہائی کا مطالبہ
لندن کی عدالت کا فیصلہ شہبازشریف کی بے گناہی اور عمران صاحب کے مصدقہ جھوٹے ہونے کی بین گواہی ہے
— PML(N) (@pmln_org) February 5, 2021
Addressing a press conference, Akbar accused PML-N said Aurangzeb was “still running the ministry of misinformation and disinformation.”
He further said he could not understand why PML-N Vice President “Maryam [Nawaz] and Shahbaz Sharif’s families have so much anger against Daily Mail.”
Akbar also challenged Sharif to “file a defamation suit against me in London and I will present the evidence [against the former].”
Aurangzeb, in a press conference on Saturday, repeated her claims saying the “faces of those who sought to throw dirt on Shahbaz Sharif had been further blackened.”
یہ تصویر میں نے اس پریس ٹاک میں بھی دکھائی تھی جب ڈیلی میل کی سٹوری شائع ہوئی تھی یہ سٹوری جہاں سے جنم لیتی ہے وہ وزیراعظم ہاؤس میں بیٹھا سلیکٹڈ مسلط وزیراعظم اور ڈیوڈ روز کی میٹنگ ہے جو میں نے آپکو پریس ٹاک کے بعد دکھائی تھی.@Marriyum_A pic.twitter.com/xDcuoXNkwn
— PML(N) (@pmln_org) February 6, 2021
The proof of Sharif’s truth had come from the London court, she said. “The London court said that according to British law, Shahbaz’s defamation was characterised as the highest level.”
Responding to her presser, Akbar, while asking her to “stop lying”, said he wanted to inform the public about “what really happened” during the hearing in London.
Contrary to his claim of filing a case against Daily Mail, reporter David Rose, Akbar, and Prime Minister Imran Khan, Akbar said Sharif filed one case only against the paper and the journalist and had “already lost 85 percent” of his claim’s validity.
He also recalled that the hearing was a “meaning hearing.”
“The judge said that when a common man reads the [newspaper] story, he comes to understand that Shahbaz and his family were involved in money laundering and corruption and it could be considered to be defamation if evidence was not provided to back the claim.”
“[The case] will now go to trial. For example, Daily Mail will be asked what evidence it has to [use the term] money laundering,” he added.
Akbar said PML-N “misreported” the hearing and certain sections of the media “gave the impression” that Sharif had won something but it was incorrect.
The PM’s aide also referred to Rose’s tweets which suggested the hearing was “not a victory for anyone and was strictly preliminary”.
It seems some in Pakistan are claiming that the London judge in today’s hearing in the Shahbaz Sharif case has said our evidence is not “up to the mark”. This is untrue. He has made no such comment. Today’s hearing is not a victory for anyone. It was strictly preliminary. OK?
— David Rose (@DavidRoseUK) February 5, 2021
Akbar alleged that everyone knew Sharif was “involved in money laundering”, adding the latter was now looking to “get it stamped from the United Kingdom.”
Referring to the money laundering reference filed against the members of the Sharif family by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Akbar recalled Sharif had been indicted and his bail rejected by the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Similarly, he said, Sharif’s son and Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shahbaz “also had to face defeat” in the Supreme Court in the same case.
In response to Maryam’s tweet which suggested the “London court’s decision shows that when the court is independent, Imran Khan and his supporters would have to face defeat”, Akbar said it “seems Maryam was not satisfied with Shahbaz’s dishonour and wanted the same for her father [Nawaz] as well”.
“The facts are very simple. Shahbaz Sharif and his family did money laundering of Rs7 billion in the name of Manzoor Papparwala. There is also a section of the reference that states that Shahbaz used this same money to build great palaces for his wife,” he said while referring to the NAB reference.
“Three people have already done plea bargains and become approvers [in the case].”
