Maryam Nawaz appears before the accountability court on Oct 19, 2017. Photo: Geo News 

ISLAMABAD: Maryam Nawaz said on Thursday that it is for the first time the ?Sicilian Mafia? is appearing before the courts. 

The former prime minister's daughter was likely referring to a reference to the notorious mafia by the Supreme Court in June this year while hearing a contempt case against the then ruling party member Senator Nehal Hashmi.  

Hashmi, in a leaked video, had threatened those "investigating the prime minister's son".

Talking to members of the media inside the courtroom where a corruption hearing against her and family is under way, Maryam said, ?First they awarded us a punishment and then the trial started?. 

Govt regrets SC judge's 'mafia' remarks in Nehal Hashmi case

?The honourable judge leveled baseless allegations against govt,

She said Nawaz Sharif is likely to come back at the end of this week or next week, adding that her mother Kulsoom?s health is improving and she is undergoing chemotherapy. 

The hearing is presently under way. 

Mafia reference 

The apex court, which took suo motu notice of the remarks, came down hard on Hashmi over his controversial speech, with Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed commenting that only mafias and terrorists threaten children in the way that he [Hashmi] did.

Justice Azmat also 'congratulated' the attorney general for being part of a 'mafia' government.

Panama verdict: Justice Khosa's dissenting note references 'The Godfather'

The Godfather reference in Panama Case verdict

Moreover, Supreme Court Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, in his dissenting judgment of April 20, 2017 in the Panama Papers case, had begun his judgment with a quote from The Godfather.