LAHORE: Pakistan's Leader of the Opposition and PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif has complained about being "humiliated" and subjected to "cruelty" by officials of the country's top anti-graft body who arrested him in a Rs 7 billion (USD 41.9 million) money laundering case.
Shahbaz, the younger brother of former premier Nawaz Sharif, was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on September 28, a week after the Opposition parties launched an alliance to hold a countrywide protest movement to oust the Imran Khan government.
69-year-old Shahbaz was taken into custody from the Lahore High Court's premises, where a large number of PML-N workers had gathered ahead of the hearing. The NAB took him to its Lahore's detention centre to produce him before the accountability court for his physical remand. "I have been humiliated and subjected to cruelty by NAB officials during the physical remand despite my known medical history," Shahbaz told judge Jawadul Hassan of Accountability Court Lahore on Monday.
He complained about the "inhumane" treatment being meted out to him by the NAB officials. The NAB produced Shahbaz before the court for hearing of the Rs 7 billion money laundering and illegal assets case against him and his family members.
"I have been suffering from a severe backache for the last 25 years. During custody, the NAB officials initially provided me food on a table in the detention room but now they deliberately put it on the ground so I feel pain picking it up," he complained to the court.
He said that he was also denied help to turn a chair towards qiblah to offer prayers. "All these acts ware being done at the behest of Prime Minister Imran Khan and his adviser Mirza Shahzad Akbar. If anything happens to me I will lodge a complaint against both of them," he said.
Judge Hassan expressed serious concern over the complaints made by Shahbaz and warned the NAB that he did not want to hear such complaints again. A NAB prosecutor denied the allegations and said Shahbaz was not even kept in a lock-up but in a dispensary.
NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal ordered a probe to ascertain the "factual position". An official statement said the NAB Chairman had already given instructions to all the regional bureaus to ensure self-respect of every accused during custody as per law.
The Pakistani Muslim League (Nawaz) (PMLN) has termed political victimisation of Shahbaz at the hands of the Imran Khan government. Party spokesperson Marriyum Auranzeb said despite having no proof for any corruption Shahbaz has been arrested on the order of prime minister Imran.