ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) former senator Nehal Hashmi was released from the Adiala Jail on Wednesday after completion of his one-month sentence in a contempt of court case. The Supreme Court (SC) on February 1 had sentenced Hashmi to one month in prison besides Rs 50,000 in fine after finding him guilty of contempt of court. He was also barred from holding any public office for the next five years.
Speaking to media outside the prison, the PML-N leader said that he was not afraid of ‘conspirators’ as they could only send him to prison or kill him but could not stop him from working under Nawaz Sharif. “I am not ashamed … why should I be ashamed? A thief should be ashamed of himself … he who uses his position [for personal or political interest] should be ashamed of himself … I am a proud Pakistani and will continue my struggle for making Pakistan a country Quaid-e-Azam, Allama Iqbal and my forefathers dreamt of,” he said. Hashmi claimed that he was a victim of ‘revenge’. He said he filed an appeal against the apex court’s verdict the very next day it was announced but the appeal had not been heard even after his release from the prison. The PML-N leader claimed that the prison was full of people who were ‘victimised’ by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He termed the accountability watchdog as the ‘most corrupt institution of Pakistan’. “Half of country’s looted wealth can be recovered if you (law enforcers) raid houses of NAB officials,” he said. Hashmi also advised the institutions to stick to their own work descriptions. “People who are taking control in their hands and those who aren’t working – please do your work, you will be accountable for it,” he said.
Published in Daily Times, March 1st 2018.
