Pakistan’s court removes judge who convicted ex-premier

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - A Pakistani judge accused of convicting the jailed former premier Nawaz Sharif in a corruption case "under pressure", has been removed from his office, it was announced on Friday.

A statement from the Islamabad High Court (IHC), which supervises all the trial courts in capital Islamabad, said that Judge Arshad Malik had been relieved from his services, and asked to report to the Law Ministry.

The judge was thrust into spotlight last week when Maryam Nawaz, daughter of Nawaz Sharif, screened a purported video during a news conference, in which the judge was seen confessing to have been "pressurized", and " blackmailed" to order against the three-time premier.

The Law Ministry, the statement said, would decide if an inquiry against the judge would be conducted by the ministry itself or by the IHC.

Maryam had claimed that Malik had sent a message through his friend to her family and said he doesn't feel easy after convicting Sharif. She also alleged that the judge even accepted that Sharif was innocent and no allegation was proved against him.

In the alleged video of Judge Arshad Malik, “[he] says that some individuals called him for a cup of tea during the hearing of case against Nawaz Sharif and showed him his old personal video and then put their demand on how to deal with Sharif," she told the news conference.

The judge, however, refuted Maryam's claims and accused the Sharif family of threatening and offering him bribe in exchange for acquitting the ex-premier.

The IHC also ordered the video and the judge's rebuttal to be made part of the ongoing hearing of Nawaz Sharif's appeal against his conviction, according to the statement.

On Dec. 24, Malik had sentenced Sharif to seven years in jail after 15-month legal process in the corruption cases, popularly known as Al Azizia Steel Mills case.

Sharif is currently serving prison term in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.

Following the IHC’s judgment, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Shehbaz Sharif called for releasing Nawaz Sharif, as according to him, the latter's conviction had been automatically set aside following the removal of the judge.

Meanwhile, Law Minister Farogh Naseem said the Malik has been stopped from serving as judge of the accountability court immediately after the IHC’s order.

Last year in May, Sharif, 68, was also sentenced to 10 years in jail in a corruption case stemming from the whistleblower Panama papers scandal by an accountability court, but the Islamabad High Court suspended the conviction in September.

His daughter and political heir Maryam and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar were also sentenced to seven years and one year in prison respectively in the same case. Both of them are on bail.

In July 2017, Sharif was disqualified from office by the Supreme Court over the whistleblower Panama Papers scandal, which also led to the filing of three corruption cases. Not long after, the top court also barred him from holding his party's leadership.

Sharif served as the premier from 1990 to 1992, 1997 to 1999, and 2013 to 2017, but could not complete even a single five-year term. His two previous governments were dismissed over corruption charges and through bloodless military coup in 1992 and 1999, respectively.

Shehbaz Sharif, younger brother and three-time chief minister of Punjab, the country's most populous province, and his son Hamza Shehbaz, who is also the opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, are also facing inquiries in connection with multiple corruption cases in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Last year in July, the then senior judge of Islamabad high court, Justice Shaukat Siddiqui, too had accused the country's powerful spy agency of manipulating the judicial proceedings of the Nawaz Sharif case. Later, he was dismissed from the service.