Ousted Pak PM Sharif gets 10-yr jail in corruption case

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s deposed premier Nawaz Sharif was on Friday sentenced in absentia to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by an anti-graft court in one of the three corruption cases against him in the Panama Papers scandal, dealing a huge blow to his party ahead of the General Election on July 25.

Nawaz Sharif with his daughter Maryam. Image credit: @MaryamNSharif/Twittter

Islamabad, July 6

Pakistan’s deposed premier Nawaz Sharif was on Friday sentenced in absentia to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by an anti-graft court in one of the three corruption cases against him in the Panama Papers scandal, dealing a huge blow to his party ahead of the elections on July 25.

Sharif’s 44-year-old daughter Maryam was given seven years of RI and a fine of 2 million pounds, while her husband, Capt Muhammad Safdar (retd) was jailed for one year for not cooperating.

The case pertains to the ownership of four flats in the posh Avenfield House in London. The court ordered confiscation of the apartments; the fine money will go into the state treasury.

The National Accountability Bureau had filed the case, along with two others, on the Supreme Court’s directives in the Panamagate verdict last year which disqualified Sharif, the three-time PM.

Sharif, 68, is currently in London attending to his wife Kulsoom Nawaz, diagnosed with throat cancer last year.

The ruling came weeks before the general elections and analysts say it could adversely hit the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the party headed by Sharif. After the verdict, Maryam and Safdar were disqualified from contesting elections.

Soon after the verdict, Maryam, considered to be Sharif’s heir apparent, took to Twitter: “This is a very small punishment for firmly standing in front of unseen forces. The morale to fight against oppression has increased today.”

Islamabad-based accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir pronounced the verdict behind closed doors. — PTI

Four London flats prove too costly

Nawaz Sharif resigned as PM last year after Supreme Court disqualified him and ruled that graft cases be filed against family members over Panama Papers scandal
21 witnesses were presented to prove that Sharifs could not justify money trail to buy four apartments in posh London area in 1990s
It was not sure if Sharif and Maryam would return from London. Analysts say if they do, it might boost chances of PML-N in polls due to sympathy vote