Four-day reprieve for Sharif, daughter

: As the condition of Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, turned critical, an anticorruption court in Islamabad granted the PMl-N leader and his daughter Maryam Nawaz a fourday exemption from an ongoing graft trial.

The duo on Tuesday applied for a seven-day exemption from the hearings of the court as they are in London following Kulsoom Nawaz’s cardiac arrest.

In November 2017, Kulsoom was diagnosed with blood and throat cancer and was shifted to London for treatment.

Sharif and Maryam have made several trips to be with her. On June 15, Kulsoom suffered cardiac arrest and was placed on a ventilator.

Judge Muhammad Bashir of the accountability or anti-corruption court said he would hear arguments regarding the petition after a short break.

Maryam’s husband, Muhammad Safdar, requested the media outside the court to pray for Kulsoom. “We face trials in life, but God gives us strength. Nawaz Sharif and his family are facing a difficult time right now. (Former military ruler Pervez) Musharraf exiled him, but he came back, he always does,” Safdar said.

In court, Sharif’s counsel Khawaja Haris, who had earlier recused himself from the case, returned to continue representing him. His withdrawal application was not accepted by the court.