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Fact-check: NAB prosecutor was appointed during PTI’s term, not PM Shehbaz’s

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Rival politician has accused PM Shehbaz of appointing state prosecutor in case of graft against his own niece, Maryam.


A rival politician has accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of appointing the state prosecutor in a case of graft against his own niece, Maryam Nawaz Sharif. The claim is false.
Claim
On September 20, Fawad Hussain Chaudhry, a senior leader of the PTI and the former minister for information, tweeted that as the Islamabad High Court was hearing a corruption case against politician Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the prosecutor assigned by the prime minister was confused regarding which side he was presenting, the NAB or the accused.

The prosecutor in question is Barrister Usman Rasheed Cheema.

The tweet has been retweeted over 10,000 times and liked over 26,000 times.

Fact

Barrister Usman Rasheed Cheema was appointed as a prosecutor of the anti-corruption body in 2020, during the tenure of Chaudhry’s own political party, the PTI.

Initially, the lawyer represented the NAB in a case of money laundering against Shehbaz Sharif and his family.

Then in July 2021, Cheema was appointed lead counsel and the head of a five-member prosecution team by NAB to counter an appeal filed by Maryam Sharif against her conviction in the Avenfield apartments case, as per a notification seen by Geo Fact Check.

Cheema has been retained as counsel in the case. Neither has he been de-notified nor reappointed since 2020.

Fawad Chaudhry’s claim that Shehbaz assigned Barrister Cheema is incorrect.

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LHC requests report on dangers to PTI founder’s life

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The Punjab Advocate General’s report about threats to the life of PTI founder Imran Khan while he was incarcerated was requested by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday.

Chief Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed Khan of the LHC Court made the order while considering a request for the PTI founder’s security in jail made by President Afzal Azim of the Tehreek-e-Insaf Lawyers Forum.

Advocate Afzal requested that the court impose severe security measures on the PTI founder, arguing that the jail authorities had prohibited their meeting with him due to security concerns.

Advocate General Khalid Ishaq questioned the application’s maintainability as soon as the proceedings began. He stated that since it was the Punjab government’s responsibility to safeguard him, he would request a report on security concerns.

We cannot afford any more significant mishaps, Chief Justice Khan said. While Benazir Bhutto and Liaquat Ali Khan were slain, the founder of the PTI managed to elude a murderous attempt on his life.

He gave the counsel general instructions to find out how concerned the PTI founder is about security.

The plea can be heard in the Rawalpindi bench, not in the primary seat, the advocate general objected.

The hearing was postponed till April 3 by Chief Justice Khan, who instructed Attorney Afzal to present his petition on the following date.

Recall that on Thursday, Advocate Afzal petitioned the court to order the Punjab Home Department and the federal government to give the PTI founder greater security.

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“Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” for farmers gets approved by CM Punjab

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At a meeting on agricultural reforms, Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz presided over the approval of the “Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” for farmers.

Farmers would receive a variety of subsidies through the Kisan Card scheme, and 500,000 small farmers in Punjab will be eligible for loans totaling Rs 150 billion over the course of a year. Each farmer will receive Rs 30,000 for every acre of land used for agriculture.

CM Maryam Nawaz announced during the meeting that a model agriculture center will be constructed in each district of the province with the assistance of the commercial sector, enabling farmers to discard phony fertilizers and medications.

The establishment of a cutting-edge center of excellence for research development on cotton, wheat, and rice crops was approved during the conference, and the Agriculture Department was instructed to gather comprehensive data on the production and demand of each crop.

Participants in the conference decided to link the research center with local universities and to give the board authority over administrative matters.

It was also decided to construct a research and development center at Agricultural University Faisalabad with Chinese participation, at a cost of Rs 2 billion.

In addition, it was decided to hire 500 agricultural graduates, update the Punjab Seed Corporation and Punjab Agricultural Research Board’s organizational structures, provide a bill that forbids the use of agricultural land for residential purposes, and outfit the Agricultural Extension Wing with cutting-edge machinery.

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Khalid Maqbool calls the ‘non-local’ police that were placed in Karachi ‘injustice’.

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Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), described the imposition of “non-local” police and administration on the port city as an injustice for the people, as reported by The News on Friday.

During a labor wing of the party-organized iftar dinner in North Nazimabad, the politician claimed that Karachi had non-local police, calling this an injustice to the city’s residents.

Siddiqui questioned why the province’s capital city had a non-local police force, pointing out that other major centers in Sindh had their own citizens working in state and federal organizations.

We are going through numerous political phases as a country, and we are forced to use non-local administration and law enforcement. However, the MQM-P has once again reclaimed from the non-locals the mandate of the province’s metropolitan districts,” Siddiqui stated.

Siddiqui claimed that “ghair maqami,” or non-local, bandits were killing young people in Karachi through street violence, citing the city’s growing number of youth fatalities from such incidents.

“Young people in the city are being brutally murdered by out-of-town bandits during Ramadan,” the MQM-P leader claimed.

He went on to say that Sindh’s “racist” administration had been given free rein and that although his party had been silent throughout Ramadan, it will now speak out about the deaths of young people in the city at the hands of outside bandits.

Siddiqui emphasized that if it took going to the streets to defend women’s honor, the MQM-P would not think twice about making any sacrifice. The ad hoc organizing committee of the party was also present at the occasion.

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