Property tycoon Malik Riaz declared on Sunday that he would not succumb to any “pressure tactics,” alleging that he had been under pressure to compromise and become a witness against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
“For over a year now, I’ve been under immense pressure to compromise, but I’ll never allow anyone to use me as a pawn for political motives,” he stated in a social media post on X.
“All my life, Allah has always guided me to stand by my principle of not taking any political sides or being used by one party against the other. For over a year now, I’ve been under immense pressure to compromise, but I’ll never allow anyone to use me as a pawn for political motives. This has been a recurring pattern of victimization against me and my business for introducing state-of-the-art projects in Pakistan. From 1996 till today, I’ve been punished for contributing towards the progress of the country. With the help of Allah Almighty, I have faced such pressures in the past with absolute grit and strength. Even today, in a personal capacity, I can say with utmost certainty, “over my dead body.” Despite my ailing condition and distress, Alhumdulillah, I’m standing firm in the face of this adversity, bearing financial business loss daily and being pushed to the wall completely, but will not surrender to any pressure tactics. Allah will guide and help me through this tough phase with dignity. In sha Allah,” Riaz wrote in a lengthy X post.
Last year, the Supreme Court ordered that Rs65 billion – comprising funds remitted from the UK by Bahria Town and money deposited by Bahria Town into a local SC account .
Riaz’s name became prominent when the £190 million case emerged, implicating the incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan.
On November 27, 2023, PTI chief’s legal aide Naeem Haider Panjutha stated that Khan does not deny receiving land for the Al-Qadir Trust from Riaz.
“Khan acknowledges that £190 million was deposited in the Supreme Court account and that he and his wife Bushra Bibi are trustees of the Al-Qadir Trust. He [Khan] asserts that he is not benefiting personally from any of this,” Panjutha was quoted as saying by Aaj News.
