Exiled former finance minister says ‘corruption’ often used for political persecution in Pakistan 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former finance minister Ishaq Dar, who lives in self-imposed exile in London, said on Tuesday that corruption allegations were frequently used as a pretext for political persecution in his country, saying he had all the evidence to disprove accusations of financial irregularities against him.
Dar, who is a close confidant of ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, also in self-imposed exile in London, made the statement during an interview on BBC’s HARDtalk program.
He denied that he was hiding in London to “escape the judicial process.”
“My lawyers are there [in Pakistan],” he said. “I’m here for medical treatment since I have cervical issue.”
The former Pakistani finance minister has been in the United Kingdom since October 2017 when he left to receive medical treatment while a corruption case was pending against him. The court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for him in November 2017 for not appearing before the judiciary, but Dar has refused to return to Pakistan.
Asked about Pakistan’s anti-graft body, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Dar said it had “lost its integrity long ago” and was wielded as a weapon against political rivals of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, led by Prime Minister Imran Khan. NAB has increasingly come under pressure for going after opponents of the government, though NAB and the government both deny these charges.
“The [incumbent] regime is known to be under a covert coup or a judicial martial law,” Dar said.