For 3rd time, Pak requests UK to deport Sharif

Islamabad, October 22

Pakistan has requested the UK for the third time to deport former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from London to serve his prison term in the country after being sentenced in corruption cases.

Sharif, the 70-year-old supremo of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) who was ousted from power in 2017 by the Supreme Court on corruption charges, is in London for medical treatment.

A letter for the deportation of the three-time Prime Minister was handed over personally to the British High Commissioner here some three weeks ago.

In the letter, the Pakistan Government asked the British authorities to consider cancelling Sharif’s visit visa, which has allowed him to live in London on medical grounds since November.

The letter has cited Britain’s own immigration laws of 1974 under which any person sentenced to imprisonment of more than four years had to be deported to the country of his/her origin.

Shahzad Akbar, Adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Accountability and Interior, confirmed that the government had made three requests to the UK authorities to deport Sharif, with the last being on October 5.

The Islamabad High Court on September 15 issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Sharif in the Al Azizia case while hearing three applications filed by him, including the ones about forgoing the requirement of his surrender before the court and exemption from personal appearance.

Sharif criticised the military establishment in recent speeches at gatherings of the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement. PTI