Nawaz Sharif's conviction and then release has once again raised serious questions about strength of legal system to prosecute high level corruption in Pakistan.
The case against Nawaz Sharif was against assets beyond known sources of income. He denied owning those assets before Panama leaks, and even after Panama leaks. He later claimed, he would prove lawful ownership of assets and his sources of income. But, he could only provide a letter from Qatari prince for which Prince did not provide supporting testimony. His children also absconded and refused to provide any documents to support case of their father. His daughter and son in law, submitted forged documents in the court.
Now a high court says that there is no direct evidence of corruption against Nawaz Sharif, and NAB lawyers have no defense for their case against Nawaz Sharif. What can be more serious miscarriage of justice than this ? When did Nawaz Sharif and his children provide money trail to support their case. Where is proof of lawful acquisition of property through known sources of income.
And if we accept arguments for direct evidence, and shift the burden of proof on NAB for proving guilt in a case of assets beyond means than is it possible to ever prove a case against corrupt politicians, mafias, militant organizations and tax thieves.
How can we prove corruption against such criminals who illegally acquire assets in the name of their children, offshore companies etc and have no direct link with assets ? Criminals and their families will refuse legal cooperation in such cases, foreign governments where assets may be located will also refuse cooperation under various legal provisions. So, if beneficiaries of corruption do not cooperate (and this includes foreign government) then how to get justice for victims of corruption which include poor of the poorest Pakistanis.
Here's How Corruption works in Pakistan :-
1). Corrupt will settle their family abroad.
2). Corrupt will receive kickbacks abroad or send proceeds of corruption abroad through money laundering.
Major destinations of money laundering is Saudi Arabia, UAE.
3). Proceeds of corruption will then be invested in property and businesses in UAE, United Kingdom, Switzerland and America.
4). Offshore companies will be created in Panama and other places to hide true ownership of the assets and to save taxes
5). If a corrupt person is arrested, then they would deny ownership of the assets. Their families will hide behind foreign citizenship to evade prosecution. They will refuse cooperation by withholding evidence of ownership, money transfer, assets held, accounts transactions etc.
6). Foreign governments will typically refuse to cooperate based on time bars e.g. records can not be provided for assets acquired more than 5/6 years ago. Now, time bars in such cases are against fundamental requirements of justice where someone who is in job/power acquires assets years ago and can not be prosecuted because they are in power.
7). Now courts in Pakistan will refuse conviction because of non-availability of direct evidence. Direct evidence of corruption can not be made available without cooperation of the criminals involved or cooperation of the governments where crime proceeds have been laundered. Now, both are uncooperative so there is no hope of conviction because of direct evidence.
8). In such a scenario, conviction is only possible if evidence and cooperation is acquired by force/coercion as done by Saudi Arabia. Or, courts accept the ground truth that criminal mafia has been uncooperative with the law enforcement and has failed to prove their innocence hence guilty. This is also a fundamental requirement of the law and is universally acceptable principle of the law.
PTI government has to take some serious steps to stop corruption, and to effectively prosecute corruption cases, some the steps that it needs to take include :-
1). Government in the meanwhile sign mutual legal agreements, and acquire asset details, transactions in accounts of suspected persons involved in money laundering etc.
2). Government should also launch crackdown on money laundering, tax evasion and black money to stop proceeds of crimes to be used and legalized.
3). Collect evidence and effectively prosecute known cases of money laundering e.g. Zardari money laundering case, Nawaz Sharif money laundering from Saudi Arabi through New York HBL branch.
References
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45575216
https://www.globalvillagespace.com/un-anti-money-laundering-department-launches-investigation-against-nawaz-sharif/
https://www.ft.com/content/0bc1789c-8c21-11e7-9084-d0c17942ba93
UK Arrests Couple Over Money Laundering
https://www.dawn.com/news/1433491/uk-crime-agency-arrests-pakistani-couple-to-probe-money-laundering-allegations
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