Nawaz, Maryam, son- in- law challenge ‘ guilty’ judgment
◗ Seven appeals were filed by their lawyers, three on behalf of Sharif, and two each on behalf of Maryam and Safdar
Islamabad, July 16: Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son- in- law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar filed separate appeals in the Islamabad high court against the guilty verdict in the Avenfield corruption case and sought to be released on bail.
Seven separate appeals were filed by their lawyers — three on behalf of Sharif, and two each on behalf of Maryam and Safdar — highlighting the legal flaws in the Avenfield verdict, while pleading that the Islamabad Accountability Court’s verdict be nullified. Their lawyers also sought their release on bail.
Sharif, 68, and his daughter Maryam, 44, were arrested in Lahore on Friday on their arrival from London. On July 6, an accountability court had sentenced Nawaz to 10 years in prison for owning assets beyond known income, along with a fine of £ 8 million. Maryam, found guilty of concealing her father’s properties, was sentenced to seven years in jail and fined £ 2 million. Capt Safdar was handed one year in jail for aiding and abetting Nawaz and Maryam.
Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appealed his 10year prison sentence on Monday, his party spokeswoman said, just days after returning to the country ahead of Parliament elections later this month.
Violence has escalated in the run- up to the balloting, with horrific attacks over the weekend killing 153 people, including a provincial assembly candidate during an election rally in southwestern Balochistan province.
Mr Sharif was sentenced in absentia on July 6 over his family’s purchases of luxury apartments in London. If the judge grants the appeal, Sharif could be released on bail, pending his retrial.
Maryam Aurangzeb, a spokeswoman for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party, said the appeal was filed on Monday with the Islamabad high court. “Our lawyers are seeking to overturn of the verdict against Nawaz Sharif and his family on legal grounds,” she said.
Sharif ’ s daughter Maryam Nawaz and son- in-law Mohammad Safdar were also sentenced in the same trial, to seven years and one year, respectively. On Friday, Sharif and his daughter returned home from London, where Sharif ’ s wife is critically ill in hospital, following a heart attack last month.
In election- related violence, gunmen on Sunday night opened fire at the election headquarters of the secular Awami National Party in the town of Chaman in Baluchistan, wounding former senator Daud Achakzai who was campaigning for Zumurak Khan, a contender for a seat in the provincial legislature.
On Friday in Baluchistan’s Mastung district, an Islamic State suicide bomber killed Siraj Raisani, a candidate for the provincial assembly and 148 others during an election rally.