ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter and son-in-law have been granted bail by the country's anti-graft court in the Panama Papers scandal. Maryam Nawaz and husband, former army captain Muhammad Safdar returned from London to appear in the Accountability Court. The latter was arrested on arrival as the court had issued non-bailable arrest warrant against him.
Both, Sharif and his sons remained absent during the hearing as they are currently in London to attend his wife Kulsoom who battles throat cancer. The court accepted bail applications from Maryam and Safdar, postponing the hearing till October 13. It also ordered to start the process of declaring Sharif's sons- Husain and Hasan, proclaimed offender as they have failed to appear before it so far. Sharif's lawyer Khawaja Harris asked the court to adjourn hearing for 15 days, committing Sharif's appearance.
The court decided to conduct separate trials of Husain and Hasan from the rest of the family. Maryam appeared for the first time in court, and she was ordered to submit a surety bond of Rs 50,000 against a non-bailable arrest warrant against her. Lawyers of the National Accountability Bureau asked the court to send Safdar to jail on judicial remand, however, the court granted him bail and ordered him to pay Rs 50,000 for surety bonds.
Maryam remained vocal on her husband's arrest from the airport. She said he was taken into custody despite the fact he had come back to face the case. “Those who want to appear by free will are arrested from the airport, but we are not afraid of it.” She also criticised the judges for disqualifying her father in the Panama Papers case. “Questions will be asked if the cases which started with Panama ended with Iqama (Job contract). The judges would have to answer it,” she said. “Those who sent home representative of 200 million people should also be brought to justice.”
