Nasir Janjua, Khurrum Yousuf arrested after being denied bail in judge video leak case – Pakistan

A cybercrime court in Islamabad on Monday refused to grant bonds prior to the arrest of Khurrum Yousuf and Nasir Janjua, the two suspects in a video leak scandal involving former judge of the Arshad Malik liability court.

Judge Tahir Mehmood heard the arguments of both suspects, who appeared before the court along with their legal advisor, and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), represented by their prosecutor. The FIA ​​attorney presented the investigation report, which was previously presented in the Supreme Court.

The main suspect Janjua's lawyer argued that the FIA ​​report claimed that the plan to record the video, in which Judge Malik allegedly confessed to condemning former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference under pressure, according to the PML-N, it was plotted. by Nasir Butt, and that his clients had nothing to do with it.

Judge Mehmood asked if the investigation report mentioned Janjua's name, to which the latter's lawyer said: "There is nothing in the report that says that my client has been accused of something."

"No evidence was presented against my clients; they were nominated by the petitioner (Judge Malik)," said Janjua's lawyer, adding that if their clients were granted bail, they would join the investigation and prove their innocence. . He said that the people nominated in the first informative report, which was presented for making the controversial video public, did not include the name of Janjua or Yousuf.

The defense told the court that Yousuf was 66 years old and was a cardiac patient.

The court dismissed the bail statements of both suspects, after which they were arrested by the FIA. Ghulam Jilani, another individual who has been nominated in the case, was also arrested.

Meanwhile, a judge in a civil court extended the judicial detention of Mian Tariq Mahmood, accused of showing Judge Malik a "compromising video" to blackmail him for 14 days. It will be presented to the court on September 16.

Judge video controversy

Judge Malik, who in December of last year sentenced Nawaz Sharif to seven years in jail in the corruption reference of Al-Azizia Steel Mills and acquitted him in the case of Flagship Investment, has been at the center of the controversy since the July 6, when PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz alleged that he had been "blackmailed" to give the verdict against Sharif.

According to Judge Malik's affidavit, presented to the president of the Supreme Court of Islamabad as a rebuttal to Maryam's press conference, Mahmood, an old acquaintance of his, was the one who showed him an "immoral video manipulated and secretly recorded [showing him] in a compromising position "he was shot while the judge served in Multan.

The judge claimed that this video was later used by Sharif's former supporter, Butt, to blackmail him.