Sharif faces hostile witnesses

KARACHI, Nov 20 (Reuters) — Ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appeared in court today to hear witnesses give statements against him as part of a legal process for the formal lodging of charges, lawyers and court sources said.

They originally said Mr Sharif, who was brought to the court amid tight security, would also give a statement but that did not happen in the early going.

A lawyer for one of Mr Sharif’s co-accused said Mr Sharif, deposed by a military coup on October 12, told him he would ask for a fair trial.

"I ask only for a free, fair and open trial. This cooked up story will expose itself and the world will judge the hollowness of the accusations," Mr Sharif was quoted as saying by Mian Aftab Farukh, lawyer for Mr Sharif’s aide, Ghous Ali Shah.

Three witnesses gave statements today before a Judicial Magistrate and were cross-examined by defence lawyers. Two more will give statements on Monday.

Mr Sharif and four others were accused last week of criminal conspiracy, hijacking — which can carry a death penalty — kidnapping and attempted murder.

No formal charges have been laid yet.

Mr Sharif is also due to appear before an anti-terrorism court on Monday where a judge will decide if he will remain in police custody for more questioning or will be formally charged.

The allegations against the five are connected to an alleged attempt to divert a plane bringing Army Chief Gen Pervez Musharraf to Karachi from Sri Lanka last month. Hours later, General Musharraf overthrew the Sharif government.

Witnesses said Mr Sharif briefly appeared outside the court to consult lawyers and waved to his supporters who were raising slogans outside the court building.

Mr Sharif protested his innocence in remarks to a reporter during a court appearance yesterday, his first public appearance since he was overthrown by General Musharraf.

The other co-accused are former Pakistan International Airlines Chairman Shahid Khakan Abbasi, former Sindh Provincial police chief Rana Maqbool, and Aminullah Chaudhry, former director of the Civil Aviation Authority.

Meanwhile, the largest circulated Urdu daily, Jung, today reported that the authorities were likely to slap another criminal charge against Mr Sharif for allegedly planning to create a civil warlike situation in the country to foil any bid by armed forces to take action against his government.

The daily, quoting official sources, claimed that the military authorities had seized details of a plan under which Mr Sharif’s previous government was to arm youths across the country to create problems for the armed forces in case of a coup.

The plan included the launching of countrywide attacks, disrupting the communication system and creating a "civil warlike situation so as to refrain the Army from assuming power," the paper quoted the sources as saying.

It claimed that barely a fortnight before the October 12 coup, seven truckloads of weapons were sent across the country for distribution among the youth trained for this purpose.

The planning was done after the deposed Premier’s younger brother Shahbaz Sharif and the then Cabinet minister Choudhury Nisar Ali Khan informed the government about the Army’s growing anger against it, the paper said

No advocates for Sharif’s party

ISLAMABAD, Nov 20 (PTI) — The much-awaited joint petition by deposed Premier Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML) to challenge the military takeover is likely to be delayed as all advocates-on-record (AORs) at the Supreme Court here have refused to file the petition on behalf of the party.

The PML is desperately trying to get hold of an AOR to file the petition but all AORs here have spurned the party while criticising the policies of the Sharif Government during its 32-month-rule before the ouster following a coup on October 12, the English daily Dawn reported today.

Under the Supreme Court rules, a petition in the apex court can only be filed through an AOR who then becomes responsible for looking after the technicalities of the petition as it is his responsibility to ensure that all documents are complete.

The report said that Mr Rafiq Rajwana, a member of the PML’s legal committee, visited the Supreme Court on Wednesday to try to persuade Choudhury Akhtar Ali, an AOR, to file the petition. But Mr Ali refused on the ground that he cannot file petition for those who tried to send the country’s Army chief (Gen Pervez Musharraf) to India, it added.

He also confirmed to the Dawn that he had refused to file the petition, even though a handsome fee of Rs 1 lakh was offered.

The rest of the seven AORs at the Supreme Court office here also refused to take the responsibility almost on the same ground, putting the PML in a difficult situation and forcing the party’s legal team to look for any other AOR in other parts of the country, the Dawn report said.

The PML on Monday, in its first parliamentary party meeting since the dismissal of the government, had decided to take the military regime head-on and file a joint petition before the Supreme Court challenging the military takeover.

On Monday itself, a PML leader, Mr Zafar Ali Shah, had filed a petition before the apex court challenging the military takeover in his personal capacity.