Nawaz Sharif held guilty of corruption, gets 10 yrs in prison

BLOW TO PMLN Daughter given 7year sentence in case pertaining to family’s acquisition of apartments in London

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court on Friday found ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif guilty of corruption and sentenced him to 10 years in prison, a major blow for his PML-N party ahead of general elections on July 25.

The accountability or antigraft court ruled there were corrupt practices linked to the Sharif family’s acquisition of four apartments in the posh Park Lane area of London in the 1990s. The verdict threatens to end the career of 68-year-old Sharif, a political survivor who couldn’t complete any of his three terms as PM.

Besides Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, widely seen as his political heir, was given a seven-year sentence while her husband, Muhammad Safdar, a former army officer, was sentenced to a year in jail in the Avenfield apartments case.

The court ordered Sharif to pay a fine of £8 million pounds ($10.6 million) and fined Maryam £2 million pounds, while ordering the confiscation of the London flats on behalf of the Pakistan government.

Sharif and his daughter are in London, where his wife Kulsoom Nawaz is being treated for cancer and is in a coma after suffering a heart attack. Hours after the verdict, Sharif told a news conference in London he will return to Pakistan and face prison as soon as he is able to have a word with his wife who is on a ventilator.

“I will continue my struggle till the people of Pakistan are not freed of the slavery imposed on them by some generals and judges,” he said. Sharif faces arrest on arrival before the polls, in which the PML-N is in a close race with Imran Khan’s Tehreeke-Insaaf party.

Judge Muhammad Bashir read out the 100-page verdict at 4.20pm after repeated delays that kept the country on edge.

Sharif requested a seven-day exemption, saying he wanted to be in court for the judgment, but his plea was dismissed.

The prosecution contended Sharif and his family had failed to prove a legal source of income for purchasing the flats between 1993 and 1996.

Sharif has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and said the flats were acquired by his sons Hussain and Hasan while settling a business deal with a Qatari prince.

“Today’s verdict shows that these Avenfield apartments were purchased using corruption money,” prosecution lawyer Sardar Abbasi told reporters. Sharif would be arrested on arrival under the law.

: Hours after a Pakistani court convicted Nawaz Sharif and his daughter of corruption on Friday, the former premier said in London he will return to the country and face prison as soon as he is able to have a word with his wife, a cancer patient who is on a ventilator.

An anticorruption court sentenced Sharif to 10 years in prison and his daughter Maryam Nawaz to seven years. Addressing a news conference in London, where his wife Kulsoom Nawaz is being treated for cancer and is currently in a coma, Sharif did not give a timeframe for his return. Asked about this, Sharif mentioned the critical condition of his wife as the reason for not being able to return immediately. He said he would return “as soon as she recovers consciousness and I can speak to her”.

“If the price of stopping the theft of the vote is chains, handcuffs and jail, I am coming back to pay this price. I am coming back to join you to stop those those who are stealing your vote, your independence and your prosperity,” he said.

“Achieve your goal with your vote on July 25 and target those who set aside your decisions through conspiracies and fraud,” he added, referring to the upcoming general elections.

“I will continue my struggle till the people of Pakistan are not freed of the slavery imposed on them by some generals and judges,” he further said, flanked by his daughter Maryam.

“I will stand with the masses and stop those who are creating impediments in the way of the votes,” he said, adding he had been punished because he tried to turn the course of Pakistan’s 70-year history.

“I promise I will continue this struggle until Pakistanis are not free of the chains that they are kept in for speaking the truth,” he added.

In an apparent reference to military dictators, Sharif said he wished those who violated the Constitution and laws were punished as speedily as the anti-graft court concluded the case against him. Sharif also said he hadn’t yet read the verdict but it reportedly stated that the prosecution couldn’t prove any allegation of corruption, and this was a “matter of pride for me”.

He said he would continue his political struggle from behind bars if necessary, and urged the people to “break the chains by exercising their right to vote on July 25”.

Earlier, while reacting to the verdict, Maryam said it was not a big punishment for “standing up to the invisible forces” who controlled the country for the past 70 years.

Meanwhile, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has completed arrangements to arrest Sharif and Maryam at Lahore airport, should they return.