Disgraced PM returns to Pakistan chaos
Dozens killed in election violence as Sharif returns to face 10 years in prison
QUETTA, PAKISTAN— Disgraced former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was in custody on Saturday, a day after the deadliest attacks in Pakistan’s troubled election campaign killed more than 130 people, including a candidate.
In the southwestern province of Baluchistan, a suicide bomber killed 128 people Friday, including a politician running for a provincial legislature. Four others died in a strike in Pakistan’s northwest.
The attacks came hours before Sharif returned from London, along with his daughter Maryam, to face a 10-year prison sentence on corruption charges, anti-corruption officials said. Maryam Sharif faces seven years in jail. Mushahidullah Khan, a spokesperson for Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League party, said Saturday that the ex-prime minister and his daughter were being held in Adiala Jail, located outside the capital of Islamabad.
Khan said Sharif will appeal his conviction and apply for bail before the deadline expires on Monday. He still faces two additional corruption trials.
Sharif’s brother and new party leader, Shahbaz Sharif, expressed outrage on at the decision to hold the trials inside a jail saying that choice is meant for “hardcore terrorists,” not veteran politicians.
In southwestern Baluchistan on Saturday, family and friends buried the 128 people who died a day earlier when a suicide bomber blew himself up at an election rally for provincial candidate Siraj Raisani, who also died.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the bombing in southwestern Baluchistan that wounded another 300 people.
On Saturday, banners decrying the tragedy fluttered over empty streets as the provincial capital of Quetta shuttered in mourning for the dead. Lawyers wearing black armbands cancelled court appearances.
Sharif returned to Pakistan from London where he was visiting his ailing wife to face corruption charges.
Sharif’s son-in-law is currently serving a one-year prison sentence on the same charge, which stems from the purchase of luxury apartments in Britain that the court said were bought with illegally acquired money.
Ahead of Sharif’s return, police swept through Lahore, arresting scores of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League party workers to prevent them from greeting him at the airport.
In a video message Friday reportedly from aboard his aircraft en route to Pakistan, Sharif said he was returning knowing he would be taken directly to prison.
Sharif has been banned from participating in politics, and his brother Shahbaz Sharif, who now heads his Pakistan Muslim Leagueand, is campaigning for re-election on July 25.
During his term in office, Sharif criticized the military’s involvement in civilian affairs and its efforts in fighting extremists.
Pakistani and international rights groups have accused the military of seeking to maintain influence in politics by keeping Sharif out of power.