LNG reference: Court reserves verdict on acquittal plea of ex-PM Abbasi

• Accountability Court reserved verdict on the acquittal pleas of co-accused
• Ex-PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said cases were prepared on political grounds
• NAB prosecutor opposed the acquittal pleas of co-accused

ISLAMABAD: An Accountability Court (AC) on Tuesday reserved its judgment on the acquittal pleas of co-accused in LNG reference against former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and others.

Accountability Court-II Judge Nasir Javed reserved the decision after listening to arguments from the respondents.

At the outset of the hearing, the NAB prosecutor opposed the acquittal pleas and urged the court to decide the matter with regard to the jurisdiction only instead of acquitting the accused.

The forum for this case would be different, he said, adding that there was a corrupt and nontransparent practice in LNG agreement.

He further said that the top court took suo-moto action on LNG agreement, adding that anti-money laundering clauses were also included in the reference.

The prosecutor said that the NAB was also viewing the cases of money laundering and fake bank accounts.

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi arrived at the court rostrum and said that these cases were prepared on political grounds.

He said that every witness should tell what the allegations were against him. Abbasi said he was being dragged in this case for the last four years. Yje court reserved the judgment on acquittal pleas.

Speaking to media outside the court, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that he had presented the record of last the last 35 years.

He said that there were people who had been in jails for seven years. No witness could be produced against him in last four years, he added.

The country could have defaulted if there was no LNG agreement, he said, and demanded for live hearing of this case.

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