Sharif, daughter released on bail
Prosecution has failed to show properties belong to ex-PM, judge says
Pakistani authorities released former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz from jail on bail yesterday after a court suspended prison sentences they got in July over the purchase of upscale apartments in London.
Supporters showered Sharif’s car with rose petals after he was freed from the jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, television footage showed. “The prisoners have been set free,” Ishaq Cheema, an official at Adyala jail, told Reuters. Earlier in the day the Islamabad High Court suspended the 10-year jail term of the threetime premier, who was once the favourite of Pakistan’s powerful generals but has since fallen out and clashed with the military.
The ruling comes almost two months after Sharif’s party lost a general election. Sharif’s daughter and political heir Maryam, was jailed for seven years on corruption charges relating to the family’s acquisition of the London flats.
“The prosecution has failed to show the properties belong to Nawaz Sharif,” Justice Athar Minallah told the court. The convictions are still under appeal with the same court, but the judge said they should be freed while the case continues.
APakistani court suspended the prison sentences of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law yesterday and set them free on bail pending their appeal hearings.
The Islamabad High Court made the decision after the Sharifs petitioned to appeal their sentences, handed down by an anti-graft tribunal earlier this year in a corruption case against them.
The development is the latest twist in a series of scandals involving the former premier, beginning with his ouster from office last year, to several corruption cases and trials that he faces.
When the anti-graft tribunal first convicted and sentenced Sharif on July 6, he was in London with his daughter, visiting his critically ill wife. The father and daughter returned home a week later and were taken to prison to serve their sentences.
Sharif’s party, the ex-ruling Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N), meanwhile, lost in parliamentary elections later in July and has now taken on the mantle of the opposition to new Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government.
‘Triumph of justice’
In yesterday’s decision, the two-judge panel headed by Justice Athar Minallah also ordered that Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar be released once they each post a bond of half a million Pakistani rupees, (Dh14,860).
The prosecutors in the case, the National Accountability Bureau, said they would appeal yesterday’s ruling and take the case against Sharif to the country’s Supreme Court.
Following the high court decision, his supporters rushed to the court in jubilation, chanting pro-Sharif slogans, waving banners and posters of the ex-premier. “This is a triumph of justice,” said Sharif ally and former Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, outside the court.
Another supporter in the crowd, Naveed Abbasi, said he is convinced Sharif was a victim of conspiracy but that, “God willing, the people will make Nawaz Sharif again the prime minister ... for a record fourth time.”
Amjad Pervez, a defence lawyer, said the required bonds have already been posted and that Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law would imminently be released from Adiala prison in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi, where they have been serving 10-year, sevenyear and one-year prison sentences, respectively.
Sharif was temporarily released earlier this month to attend the funeral of his wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, who died at a London hospital after a long battle with cancer.
In July 2017, the Pakistani Supreme Court disqualified Sharif from office over corruption allegations. He faced several court cases at home and was later convicted of concealing assets abroad. Sharif faced two more cases before the anti-graft tribunal and has been banned for life from public office.
Senator Javed Faisal, a close aide of Prime Minister Khan, pointed out that Sharif and his family members’ sentences have only been suspended — they are not acquitted.
“Their supporters should not celebrate so much as they will likely have to go again to prison,” he said.
However, analysts see the decision as a definite boost for Sharif’s party and supporters.
“If the court finally quashes Sharif’s conviction, that will be a cause of concern for the new government,” said Tauseef Ahmad, adding that “Sharif is still a popular leader and has the capability to mobilise masses.”
Ahsan Iqbal, Sharif party lawmaker and former interior minister, said the anti-graft tribunal had convicted Sharif, his daughter and son in-law without any legal grounds, but “based on a vendetta.”
Sharif never completed any of his three terms as prime minister. His first government was dismissed by the thenPresident Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1993 on corruption charges and his second government was toppled by Gen. Pervez Musharraf in a bloodless coup in October 1999.