ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation
Agency (FIA) Additional Director and head of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that investigated the Panama Papers scandal, Wajid Zia is back in court today to record his statement
in the Al Azizia reference against disqualified former
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Zia has already testified once before
in the court
in the Avenfield properties reference, and started his testimony
in the present Al Azizia hearing yesterday (T
hursday).
Nawaz Sharif, who earlier flew in to Islamabad from Lahore, is also present at the hearing.
In his testimony on T
hursday, Zia re
stated before the court how he was appointed the JIT’s head, and how his ambit included determining the ownership of the ruling family’s assets.
Zia also highlighted how the JIT had sent Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) requests to authorities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the former of which failed to respond.
Zia also mentioned in his statement the correspondence that occurred between the JIT and Qatari prince Hammad bin Jasim, a business partner of the Sharif family.
The hearings themselves pertain to the Supreme Court’s decision
in the Panama Papers case to disqualify then
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and to initiate corruption proceedings against the PML-N leader and his family.
