Suleman Shehbaz, the son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was granted 14-day protective bail by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). On Tuesday and ordered to appear before the appropriate trial court handling a money laundering case against him.
After more than four years of self-exile in the UK, Suleman returned to Pakistan on Sunday. As per the IHC’s order to appear in court by December 13.
The premier’s son had been denied protective bail by the court due to his absence, but the court had also prohibited the police from detaining him at the airport upon his arrival in Pakistan.
Suleman shows up in front of IHC
At the beginning of the hearing on his application for 14-day protective bail Suleman appeared before the IHC.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq questioned Suleman’s attorney about the court that his client must appear in during the hearing.
The IHC CJ was then informed by Suleman’s attorney Amjad Pervez. That his client must appear before the central special judge in Lahore.
After discovering this, Justice Farooq granted the PM’s son 14-day protective bail and ordered him to appear before the appropriate court within 14 days.
Suleman claimed in his plea to the IHC that he left Pakistan in 2018. And that the case was first filed against him in 2020. He added that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had not sent him a call-up notice and that the court had proclaimed him a criminal without taking any further action.
“Imran Khan needs to take responsibility here,”
Suleman criticised Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan. In a media interview outside IHC, saying that the time for his accountability has come.
“The day of reckoning has come, and we won’t spare him. Now, we won’t allow him any room, and he will suffer the consequences, stated Suleman.
Suleman questioned why Farah Gogi, a friend of Imran Khan’s wife who is accused of selling the Toshakhana watches given to Khan, left Pakistan.
“You are upset that Farah Gogi does not have a position of public trust. I was not a public office holder either,” said Suleman. The PTI chairman, he said, did not even consider women while in office and detained them.
Suleman responded, “You had the authority, you could have proven the cases.
The previous National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chief Javed Iqbal was also criticised by the PM’s son, who called him a “black stain” on the accountability framework.
Imran Khan’s tamasha was seen by the entire world last month.
Suleman added that the “tamasha” [show] put on by PTI Chairman Khan last month was seen by people all over the world.
He claimed that the PML-N politicians receive assistance from every institution that the PTI leadership criticises. He claimed that under Khan’s presidency.A case was filed in Britain at the request of the Pakistani government, and its trial went on for 18 months.
Suleman questioned what the PTI leadership would say about the British agency at this time. And stated that “the [UK] National Crime Agency (NCA) found no proof of money laundering against Shehbaz Sharif.”
The PTI leader was additionally requested by the PM’s son to provide proof of his sale of the watches given to him by the Saudi crown prince.
Regarding the defamation case that PM Shehbaz Sharif successfully defended in a UK court, Suleman claimed that PTI leader Shahzad Akbar was the one who brought David Rose, the author of the damaging piece that appeared in the British newspaper Daily Mail, to the NAB’s cell.
He claimed that following a “fake briefing” at NAB’s cell, the article was published in an English daily.
“The actual Shahzad Akbar is eluding capture in Pakistan. He competed against Pakistan “Suleman declared.
Exile of Suleman
Prior to the 2018 general elections, Suleman took a flight from Pakistan to London. After the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed many cases against him.
Along with his father, the current prime minister, his brother Hamza Shahbaz, and other members of the Sharif family, he was also mentioned in a number of cases.
Suleman was the subject of an investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency. In Shahbaz’s money-laundering and abuse of public office proceedings in London. At the request of the Assets Recovery Unit (ARU), led by Shahzad Akbar, a former accountability advisor to former prime minister Imran Khan (NCA).
But following a two-year probe by the UK’s top corruption investigators, he was declared innocent.
Suleman has stated that in order to promote the establishment of a new political system. False and manipulative cases were filed against him and his family, forcing them to flee Pakistan.
He claimed that no one leaves their native country and goes into exile of their own volition. It was only because of unfair circumstances that he was forced to “leave Pakistan for safety.”
“When a full structure was put in place to bring in the hybrid system, replacing us as a family and as a political party, there was no hope of any justice at that time. The entire system was built on unfairness, and it was predicated on deceit, trickery, and victimisation. The entire system was designed to target us by fabricating cases and using the apparatus of the state.
“These incidents were the worst illustration of political witch-hunt and political victimisation,” he stated in a statement from Madinah. The cases created by the Assets Recovery Unit and National Accountability Bureau under former NAB chairman Javed Iqbal had no truth and no proof of corruption.
