Give A class to Sharif: SC
Deposed PM alleges humiliation
From Shahid Ahmed Khan

ISLAMABAD, Dec 7 (PTI) — Deposed Pakistan Premier Nawaz Sharif today told the Supreme Court that he was taken out of Prime Minister’s residence at gunpoint by the army when it took over power in a coup on October 12 last.

“I was escorted out of the Prime Minister’s house at gunpoint with one dozen gunmen surrounding me,” Sharif told a 12-Judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Saiduzzaman Siddiqui while appearing in a contempt case stemming out of storming of the apex court allegedly by his party workers two years ago.

Flown in here from Karachi on summons by the apex court, Sharif also alleged that he had been humiliated during the period of his detention first under the army, later the police and now in judicial custody.

“It is not a question of dignity but I have been treated in a humiliating way,” 50-year-old Sharif, who is lodged in Karachi jail after being charged with treason and hijacking, said in the jam-packed courtroom.

“The treatment meted out to me and to my colleagues is humiliating ... I have been kept in a small cage-like cell which is locked all the time except for a few brief intervals when I am allowed out to walk around,” he said.

The Chief Justice after hearing Sharif directed the Attorney General, Mr Aziz A Munshi, that the deposed premier be “treated in a dignified manner” and all “A” class facilities be ensured to him in the jail.

Sharif’s lawyer Khalid Anwar told the court that Mr Sharif had been brought to court in an armoured personnel carrier accompanied by a large number of para-military personnel and policemen “as if he was a dangerous killer. Is he someone so dangerous as to be brought in this manner ? it is undignified and humiliating.”

At this juncture, the Chief Justice asked Munshi “why was there so much security ?”

The Attorney-General replied, “if a risk is taken who will be responsible ?”

“Nawaz Sharif is safe in the country and they (authorities) should not make it an excuse,” Sharif’s counsel Khalid Anwar interjected.

“Let me assure you that he (Sharif) was treated with hospitality and utmost respect,” Munshi said, adding “we will consider necessary precautionary measures to assess the necessity of an armoured personnel carrier.... We don’t want to be responsible for any untoward situation.”

Recounting his ordeal, Sharif told the court that immediately after the incidents of October 12, he was confined to an “absolutely dark room” in Chaklala on the outskirts of Islamabad for 30 days.

“I was not allowed to watch television, not even the sky and I had no contact with the outside world and my family members.... This is how I spent 30 days in solitary confinement,” he said.

He was taken to a nearby hill station, Murree, he said, and there too he was kept “in a dark room which also had its window panes painted so that nobody could see from outside.”

After about 10 days of confinement at Murree, Sharif said, he was taken to Karachi and kept in an old barrack built by the British where also “the condition of the room and bathroom was very bad.”

When he was shifted to Landhi jail in Karachi he was held “in a small little cage-like cell. Where I was confined you have to see to believe,” he said.

He said earlier he was always kept in a locked cell, but after the court ordered upgradation of his facilities the cell was unlocked and he was allowed to walk around for some time.

His lawyer Anwar told the court that Sharif was flown to Islamabad from Karachi by a small special plane last evening which took six hours to reach here after refuelling at Multan.

Anwar claimed that the authorities rejected Sharif’s offer to pay for travelling by a normal PIA flight and as a result reached Islamabad almost at midnight.

Sharif was brought to court in an armoured personnel carrier amidst tight security with the main thoroughfare outside the apex court sealed from all sides.

Some supporters of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League, who had gathered at one end of the road, were chased away by mounted police when they raised slogans.