Testimony against Nawaz Sharif may end soon

KARACHI, FEBRUARY 12: Lawyers prosecuting former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif on charges of hijacking said today they hoped to fi...

KARACHI, FEBRUARY 12: Lawyers prosecuting former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif on charges of hijacking said today they hoped to finish presenting their witnesses by the end of next week.

“Hopefully, we will conclude our witnesses by the end of next week, probably by as early as Friday,” Sindh provincial advocate-general Raja Qureshi told reporters after the end of the third week of testimony.

The trial against Sharif, his brother Shahbaz and five others on charges that also include attempted murder, kidnapping and terrorism, resumes on Wednesday.

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The charges stem from October 12 when a civilian plane carrying Gen Musharraf and 198 passengers was briefly denied permission to land at Karachi airport.

The prosecution alleged that Sharif ordered the aircraft, then running low on fuel, be denied landing approval.

Qureshi said a list of a further 24 prosecution witnesses had been given to the anti-terrorism court and Sharif’s lawyers, but added that not all of them were likely to testify.

“Most of the witnesses left have like half-page statements (of testimony)… We will see if there are a few that we can drop,” Qureshi said.

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On Sunday, Sharif’s military secretary Brigadier Javed Iqbal Malik, the 18th witness, testified about what took place earlier on October 12 before the plane incident when Sharif decided to sack Gen Musharraf.

The general overthrew Sharif in a coup after troops loyal to him took control of the airport and his plane could land.

Malik said Sharif turned down advice by a top defence official to discuss his decision to sack Gen Musharraf. “The time for this discussion is over,” Malik quoted Sharif as saying to former Defence Secretary Iftikhar Khan.

Malik said Khan asked Sharif to discuss the issue with either Gen Musharraf or with his brother Shahbaz, former chief minister of Punjab province, and former petroleum minister Nisar Khan.

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Malik said Sharif was unhappy that a general, Tariq Pervez, was forced to take early retirement by Musharraf a few days earlier because of media reports that Pervez was forced out “because he met the prime minister without the prior approval of GHQ (General Headquarters of the army)”.

Malik told the court that he and most of the staff at prime minister’s house on October 12 were in the custody of the army, but he did not say if he faced charges against or a court martial.