Sharif given sub-standard facilities: Lawyers
ISLAMABAD: Former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, who were arrested by Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials upon their arrival from London, are being lodged in substandard facilities, their lawyers have alleged.
The legal team said they were allowed to meet Sharif only for five minutes. They said the team led by Saad Hashmi went to the former prime minister to attain a power of attorney so that an appeal could be filed in the Islamabad High Court.
No bed or air conditioner has been provided to Nawaz in Adiala central jail, they told reporters.
A senior police official was present throughout the meeting. Nawaz complained that he was not even given a newspaper to read.
His bed consists of a lone mattress on the floor, and the washroom was in a despicable condition, the lawyers claimed.
The legal team was not allowed to meet Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz, who is also lodged in the same jail. Only Amjad Parvez, her legal counsel, could meet her.
The PML-N’S social media team released Maryam’s letter in which she has turned down the suggestion to avail better facilities. On Friday night, the fatherdaughter duo was separated and taken from the Islamabad International Airport in two convoys to the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi for a medical examination. As per official procedure, the examination was carried out in the presence of the Islamabad magistrate and senior police officials.
The penitentiary’s medical board compiled reports on Nawaz and Maryam’s medical history and declared them fit for incarceration in the facility.
The Islamabad chief commissioner had initially issued a notification declaring the Sihala Police Training College Rest House in the capital city as a subjail for keeping the convicted prisoners.
A second notification followed, stating that Sihala would serve as a sub-jail only for Maryam and that the preceding notification would be considered void ab initio. Maryam was initially sent to Sihala rest house and then shifted to the women’s barracks in the prison.
In another development, the caretaker government declared Sunday as a day of national mourning for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
It said the national flag would fly at half mast on Sunday to mourn nearly 150 people who died in the attacks.