ISLAMABAD – An accountability court in Islamabad on Thursday may indict the Sharif family for the London properties case despite the fact that both the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his lead defence counsel Khawaja Haris Ahmed are out of Pakistan.
Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir was supposed to indict Mr. Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar on Oct 13.
But due to the violent clash between the lawyers with police for not allowing the former into the premises of the court, the indictment proceedings were rescheduled for Oct 19.
Since both Mr. Sharif and his lead defence counsel are not present in Pakistan, the court may indict Mr. Sharif through a pleading, while the charges against Maryam and Safdar would be delivered in person.
In any case, if there is an indictment of the accused persons by the accountability court, it would direct the prosecution to summon the witnesses in order to record the testimony, the lawyers said to the media.
On the other hand, officers from the Islamabad police on Wednesday met with the chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and judge in order to discuss security measures that would be taken within the premises the courts and the number of people who would be allowed inside during the Panama Papers case hearing on Thursday.
