Nawaz Sharif appears before Pak anti-corruption court

Pakistan's deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday appeared before an anti-corruption court hearing graft cases against him, in his first court appearance after getting bail last month in a major corruption case that wrecked his political career.

Sharif appeared before the accountability court after Judge Muhammad Arshad Malik on Monday warned that he may cancel his surety bond and issue arrest warrants if the former premier failed to appear before the bench.

After a brief hearing, the court adjourned hearing of Al-Azizia and Hill Metal corruption case against Sharif till Wednesday, Radio Pakistan reported.

On the orders of the Supreme Court, the National Accountability Bureau had filed three corruption cases against the 68-year-old three-time former prime minister.

A top Pakistani court last month suspended the jail sentences of Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law in the Avenfield corruption case, one of the three corruption cases. The trio were released from a jail following the court order.

Apart from the Avenfield case, the Sharifs face jail terms if they are convicted in two more corruption cases related to the Al-Azizia and the Flagship Investment cases.

The cases against the family stemmed from the Panama Papers case in April 2016.

The Flagship Investment Ltd case is based on information the NAB had obtained from the report filed by the Joint Investigation Team constituted by the Supreme Court to probe money laundering allegations against Sharif and his family.

The court had summoned Panamagate joint investigation team head and prosecution's star witness Wajid Zia to record his statement on Monday. However, Zia's statement could not be recorded as the former premier and his counsel did not appear for the hearing.

Expressing anger over their absence, Judge Malik on Monday remarked, "A suspect cannot skip a hearing on his own will."
He added, "I will write down an order and then you all keep challenging it."