Crackdown on Sharif’s supporters before return
ISLAMABAD: As former prime minister Nawaz Sharif prepared to return to Pakistan from the UK on Friday, some 300 of his supporters were rounded up in Lahore and other parts of Punjab province.
Barricades were set up at Lahore airport to prevent supporters of his PML-N party from receiving him. Police said about 300 PML-N workers were detained on Wednesday night “to avoid violence”.
In a news conference in London, Sharif had said he would return to Pakistan regardless of whether he would go to jail or the gallows. The caretaker government has said it will arrest him and his daughter Maryam on arrival.
Local media reported that the government would fly them to Rawalpindi soon after their arrival in Lahore and lodge them at the Adiala Jail.
A helicopter has been placed at Lahore airport for this purpose.
Journalist Talat Husain tweeted that the situation in Lahore is tense after the rounding up of PML-N supporters. There are fears of violence in the city.
Analyst Nusrat Amin told the media that containers have been placed near the airport and police are taking positions around the city to pre-empt violence.
Parts of Lahore were blocked while more than 100 local government officials have been detained ahead of the Sharifs’ arrival.
A reception that had been arranged for Sharif has been cancelled after the arrest of most of its organisers.
While the local administration has assured that it had the situation under control, it is expected that many parts of the city will be closed on Friday.
PML-N claimed the arrest of its activists was an attempt to prevent Sharif’s supporters from staging a welcome-home rally upon his return.
Sharif, ousted by the Supreme Court for corruption in July 2017, was convicted last week and sentenced to 10 years over purchases of luxury apartments in London. His daughter, Mariam Nawaz, was sentenced to seven years in a case stemming from documents leaked from a Panama law firm.
Both were sentenced in absentia while in Britain, where Sharif’s critically ill wife Kulsoom is in hospital.
PPP CRITICISES PRE-POLL RIGGING
The Pakistan People’s Party has decried what it called “pre-poll rigging” ahead of the July 25 election, saying the reopening of a criminal case against its co-chairman was politically motivated.
The PPP also said men identifying themselves as military officers had pressured some of their candidates to switch affiliation to a “King’s party”, a common euphemism for one favoured by the powerful military.
The PPP’S allegations marked its first open criticism of the electoral process.