— PTI leaders term the verdict a ‘slap in the nation’s face’
— PM Shehbaz hails court’s verdict, says it vindicates his stance
ISLAMABAD: While Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other PML-N leaders welcomed the Special Court verdict in Rs 16 billion money-laundering case on Wednesday, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders criticised the verdict, saying it was a ‘slap in the nation’s face’.
Prime Minister said they stood vindicated before the court, the law and the people despite facing the worst kind of political oppression and misuse of state machinery during the previous government that had held the institutions as hostage.
On his Twitter handle, the prime minister referred to the verdict of a special court in Lahore, and said it had acquitted him and his son Hamza Sharif from a money laundering case that had falsely been framed upon baseless accusation and political victimization.
The prime minister said Allah Almighty had blessed them in the form of acquittal from the baseless money laundering case. The more, they thanked Allah Almighty, the less it would be, he added.
In a tweet, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said that the allegedly laundered “Rs24 billion have been sacrificed for the sake of the father-son duo”.
“On one hand, [they] are seeking funds for flood victims. On the other hand, one family has looted billions of rupees,” Fawad said, adding that the laundered money belonged to the people of Pakistan.
Taking a jibe at the court’s decision, another PTI leader Maleeka Bokhari tweeted that the “country’s major criminals” and “convicted thieves” have been “respectfully acquitted” today.
While PTI’s Parliamentary Leader in Sindh Khurrum Sher Zaman stated that he was not surprised at the acquittal of PM Shehbaz and Hamza.
“The prosecution’s strings are in the hands of the imported government. We could foresee their purpose of coming into power,” he tweeted, adding that the resignation of the Federal Investigation Agency’s Director General and the absence of a witness is the actual sign of favouritism.
