Maryam Nawaz schooled on Panama Papers scandal by Pulitzer-winning journalists
The Pakistani Twitter-sphere today saw the prime minister's daughter being schooled by two Pulitzer prize-winning journalists on the true nature and global impact of the Panama Papers scandal.
In a bid to 'cleanse' her family's name of the Panama Papers controversy, Maryam Nawaz had taken to Twitter Tuesday evening to share her thoughts.
She claimed the Panama Papers, which rocked some of the most powerful public office holders in several countries, had been "trashed in the rest of the world".
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Maryam Nawaz Sharif
✔@MaryamNSharif
Panama is crap. Trashed in the rest of the world. Those relying on it to bring down NS wil bite the dust Insha'Allah
https://twitter.com/azizumai/status/859389808988364806 …
2:58 PM - 2 May 2017
She doubled down on that statement by tweeting that the scandal was "never about corruption".
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Maryam Nawaz Sharif
✔@MaryamNSharif
Panama papers were never about corruption. Even the stealers & hackers (read originators) didn't say it was. Losers in imminent danger 1/2
3:25 PM - 2 May 2017
Unexpectedly, Bastian Obermayer — a Pulitzer-winning journalist from German publication
Süddeutsche Zeitung who was the first to receive the Panama Papers and who eventually took the lead in breaking the story internationally — stepped in at that point to set the record straight.
"Sorry to tell you," he said, "[but the] Panama papers ARE about corruption."
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Bastian Obermayer @b_obermayer
Sorry to tell you:
#panamapapers ARE about
#corruption. We found an astonishing number of corruption cases in the documents - and all real.
https://twitter.com/maryamnsharif/status/859398352819159040 …
3:48 PM - 2 May 2017
Maryam retorted saying that the "misery of the journalists" who broke the Panama story "is understandable".
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Maryam Nawaz Sharif
✔@MaryamNSharif
The misery of journalists who broke the Panama story is understandable. Their overt & covert efforts to bring the govt down came to a naught
4:18 PM - 2 May 2017
She also expressed regret over what she alleged was a "nexus" between the Panama Papers journalists and their "Pakistani counterparts" and said it was "sad that they became a part of conspiracy against Pakistan".
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Maryam Nawaz Sharif
✔@MaryamNSharif
Don't want 2say much abt nexus bet u & yr Pak counterparts but sad that they bcame a part of conspiracy against Pak.
https://twitter.com/b_obermayer/status/859404334521606145 …
4:46 PM - 2 May 2017
Obermayer responded by giving her some perspective on what journalism is about and what the scope of the Panama Papers actually was:
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Bastian Obermayer @b_obermayer
Journalism isn't about bringing down a govrnmt. It's about telling the truth. Like it or not. (&
#panamapapers isn't only abt Pakistan, btw)
https://twitter.com/maryamnsharif/status/859418812910882817 …
5:11 PM - 2 May 2017
Minutes later, Frederik Obermaier, another Pulitzer-winning journalist who worked on the Panama Papers and who co-authored the authoritative book on the international scandal with Bastian Obermayer, joined the conversation.
He reminded Maryam that the scandal had not been as inconsequential as she believed.
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Frederik Obermaier
✔@f_obermaier
Trashed in the rest of the world? ICYMI: ~150 investigations, audits & investigations
#PanamaPapers in ~80 countries
http://bit.ly/2owI9VR https://twitter.com/MaryamNSharif/status/859391745582399498 …
5:15 PM - 2 May 2017
Panama Papers: The downfall of a scandalous firm
Mossack Fonseca's founders are in custody, most of its employees have been sacked, and it is under investigation around the world. The law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers has lost its unique...
panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de
The conversation eventually subsided after Maryam Nawaz stopped tweeting.