Pakistani court extends remand of Maryam Nawaz for 14 days in corruption case

Lahore - Both Maryam and her cousin have been ordered to appear before the court on September 4.

An accountability court in Lahore on Wednesday extended the physical remand of Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Maryam Nawaz and her cousin Yousaf Abbas in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) case till September 4.
Accountability Court Judge Naeem Arshad conducted the proceedings wherein Maryam Nawaz and Yousaf Abbas were presented amid strict security arrangements.
During the proceedings, the NAB's lawyer said that investigations in the Maryam case had not yet been completed. He requested 15 days extension in physical remand. In response, Maryam's lawyer Advocate Amjad Pervez said that the investigation had been carried out in all cases and the trial had been completed.
Earlier, the judge expressed displeasure at selfies being taken with the PML-N leader in the courtroom, the Dawn reported.  The court also experienced a power outage during the proceeding. The noise created by party workers affected the proceedings, following which the judge left the courtroom and went to his chambers. Proceedings were temporarily adjourned. As proceedings resumed, the judge granted NAB 14-day physical remand and ordered that the two be presented before the court on September 4.
Ahead of the court appearance, strict security arrangements were made. Containers and barbed wires were used to close routes towards the judicial complex and a large contingent of female police were stationed inside and outside the court. Various PML-N leaders also arrived at the accountability court, including Khurram Dastgir Khan, Hina Pervez Butt, Saiful Malook Khokhar, Barjees Tahir, Parvaiz Rasheed, Muhammad Zubair, Nehal Hashmi and Rana Muhammad Iqbal. Maryam's husband retired Capt Mohammad Safdar Awan and son Junaid Safdar were also in the courtroom.
Maryam had appeared before NAB on July 31 to record her statement in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills reference. The statement was regarding 'dubious' business transactions of the CSM of which she was one of the major shareholders.
NAB sources had revealed to the Dawn at the time that in January 2018, the PML-N government's financial monitoring unit had reported to NAB a huge suspicious transaction involving billions of rupees in Chaudhry Sugar Mills under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. A NAB team arrested Maryam Nawaz and Yousaf Abbas on August 8 and produced them before accountability court on August 9, which had remanded them in the NAB custody till August 21.

• Pakistan