Upon release from jail, Nehal Hashmi launches attack on NAB, conspirators

LAHORE: Having served out his one-month sentence for a speech he made as a Senator, Nehal Hashmi was released from Adiala Jail (Central Jail Rawalpindi) on Wednesday. A visibly charged Hashmi said he had been made a victim of revenge for standing by Nawaz Sharif. He added that his life and livelihood were in the hands of the Almighty, not in the hands of the conspirators. Hashmi who was disqualified from holding public office for a period of five years by the Supreme Court of Pakistan for threatening then prime minister Nawaz Sharif's unidentified 'enemies', said he was had been victimized. "My appeal was filed the very next day after my sentencing, but one month has passed and my appeal has not been heard," Hashmi told journalists, adding, "See, if justice has prevailed or victimisation has prevailed." Hashmi asked those gathered around him, "Whom did I say anything against? When did I take the name of the judiciary? When did I take the names of chacha, baba and rehmats?" Hashmi said they could send him to prison, shoot him or kill him but his respect and shame were in the hands of the Almighty, who had made him respectful today. The former senator lashed out at the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) stating it was the most corrupt institution in the country. He added that if the offices of the directors and assistant directors of NAB were raided, half the looted wealth of the country would be found.