Thief punished cypher, 190m pounds cases are still pending Maryam

PTI chief no more ‘honest and righteous,’ PML-N reacts to Toshakhana verdict,

ISLAMABAD – Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Saturday the sentencing of the PTI chairman in the Toshakhana case should be seen separately from elections and politics as a thief had been punished for his crimes.

Addressing a press conference, Marriyum said they had thought they won’t be held accountable but everyone would have to give answers [for their actions].

The PTI chairman tried his best to escape justice by making different excuses, she told a press conference and added that 190 million pounds [Al-Qadir Trust] and cypher cases were still pending. An attempt was being made to build a narrative that the sentencing and arrest was political in nature, the minister noted.

Marriyum said the government had nothing to do with the PTI chief as he was detained after the court convicted him in the Toshakhana case. He would have been detained much earlier if the government had wanted to do so on political grounds, the federal minister remarked.

Unlike the claims made by the PTI, Marriyum went on to say, it had been explained in detail in the verdict that ample opportunity was provided to the PTI chairman for arguing his case. But he opted to tell lies and providing a bogus list of witnesses to court while trying to avoid justice for 15 months, she added.

Recalling the Panama Papers case, the federal minister mentioned that the name of the then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, wasn’t even mentioned but he went for writing a letter to the court for accountability. Nawaz had provided answers to the questions while the PTI chairman decided to attack the state institutions, she observed with an argument that the two matters could not equated.

The PML-N supremo appeared before courts on 150 occasions but was sentenced on dubious grounds under the Black Law Dictionary, Marriyum said.

Earlier,

PML-N) leader Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday the PTI chairman was no more “honest and righteous” after his jail sentence in the Toshakhana case.

Earlier in the day, a district and sessions court in Islamabad sentenced the former premier for a three-year term and a Rs100,000 fine in the Toshakhana case, filed against him by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for failing to declare the gifts in the asset declarations.

The jail sentence also led to his disqualification by the ECP under the Election Act. .

The court also declared that the PTI chairman was involved in corrupt practices under Section 174 of Election Act 2017 and had submitted a bogus affidavit with the Election Commission, ordering the Islamabad Police chief to arrest the convict immediately while issuing the arrest warrants.

Shortly after the verdict, senior PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi confirmed that the police had arrested his party chairman from the Zaman Park residence in Lahore.

Reacting to the verdict, Mr Tarar said the PTI used delaying tactics in the case, adding that now “he [PTI chairman] is a certified thief”.

He said the former premier concealed his assets, adding that the man who used to hurl allegations at others was now short of words for his defence. He said the situation was so far peaceful following the PTI chief’s arrest.