Defiant Sharif vows to return to Pak
FACEOFF National Accountability Bureau completes arrangements to arrest Nawaz and Maryam at airport
ISLAMBABAD : 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
Joins the Pakistan Muslim League (PML)
Joins the Punjab provincial cabinet as finance minister, becoming Punjab's chief minister in 1985
First elected prime minister
Removed as prime minister by Pakistan's president but reinstated by Supreme Court. Resigns under pressure and PML-N loses elections
Elected prime minister for second time
Overthrown in a military coup by Gen Pervez Musharraf. Convicted of corruption
Allowed to go into exile in Saudi Arabia
Returns from exile as
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 part of a political deal that ended Musharraf's military rule
Loses election to Pakistan Peoples Party of Benazir Bhutto
Elected prime minister for third time
Panama Papers show involvement of Sharif's family in offshore companies 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 con- including two used to buy luxury homes in London
Supreme Court agrees to set up a judicial commission to probe corruption allegations
SC declares Sharif disqualified from office for not declaring income from a company in United Arab Emirates, which was not in original Panama Papers revelations. The court also orders the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to open a criminal trial into ownership of the London flats
SC rules Sharif is banned from political office
for life
NAB court gives Sharif and daughter Maryam 10 and 7 years in prison. trolled 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.