Maryam reaches court for trial in Avenfield reference

Islamabad, Oct 26 (IANS) Ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz arrived at an accountability court here on Thursday for the first trial hearing in the corruption reference against her, her husband retired Captain Mohammad Safdar and her father.

The court had indicted the three on October 19 in connection with a reference pertaining to the Avenfield flats filed against them by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Dawn news reported.

All three pleaded not guilty to the charges. The ousted Prime Minister's sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz were named co-accused in the chargesheet in the references.

Captain Safdar arrived before Maryam, who made her way to the court directly after arriving in Islamabad from Lahore.

Sharif, who has also been indicted in two other references, is unlikely to appear in court today.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court had on July 28 directed the NAB to file references against the ousted Prime Minister and his children in the accountability court in six weeks. The top court also directed the trial court to decide the references within six months.

The Supreme Court assigned Justice Ijazul Ahsan a supervisory role to monitor the progress of the accountability court proceedings.

Sharif and his sons have been named in all three NAB references, while Maryam and her husband have been named only in the Avenfield reference.

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