Nawaz Sharif return to Lahore highlights: Ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gestures as he boards a Lahore-bound flight due for departure, at Abu Dhabi International Airport. (Reuters Image)
Former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif return to Lahore Live Updates: Convicted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and daughter Maryam Sharif were arrested at the Lahore airport upon their arrival from London in Avenfield reference case. They were shifted to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi later. Lahore is on lockdown as PML-N supporters march under the leadership of Nawaz’s brother Shahbaz Sharif.
Read | Nawaz Sharif, Maryam arrested on return to Pakistan, days ahead of general election
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif urged Pakistan nationals to vote for PML-N candidates at the July 25 vote. He said that Sharif had left his ailing wife back in London and returned to Pakistan for the better future of the country. Sharif has been awarded a 10-year sentence by an anti-corruption court in connection with the Panama Papers investigation, while his daughter is facing a 7-year sentence. Over 300 leaders and workers were arrested on Thursday in a crackdown ahead of their arrival. At least 10,000 personnel are deployed across the city on Friday.
Explained | Why Nawaz Sharif may find it hard to bounce back
Nawaz Sharif appears at a news conference at a hotel in London, Britain on July 11, 2018. *(Reutes/Hannah McKay/File)
At least 50 persons were injured during the tear gas and baton attack by the police in Punjab province when Sharif's supporters tried to reach the airport. The supporters clashed with police and were arrested the day when former Pak PM and his daughter arrived in Lahore.
"At least 50 people including 20 policemen have been injured during clashes between PML-N workers, police and the Rangers mostly in Lahore and some adjoining districts in Punjab," Punjab police spokesman Niyab Haider told PTI.
Speaking to media, senior party leader Khawaja Saad Rafiq had said that the interim government arrested dozens of PML-N leaders, workers, supporters and leaders in a bid to thwart the PML-N public rally that was being organised to welcome party supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz.
Explained | Why Nawaz Sharif may find it hard to bounce back
Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif's brother and PML-N party's president grieved over the suicide bombing attack in Pakistan Friday.
Maryam tweeted a video of her father, Nawaz Sharif in which he can be heard saying, “The country is at a critical juncture right now. I have done what I could. I am aware that I have been sentenced to 10 years (in prison) and I will be taken to a jail cell straight away. But I want Pakistani nationals to know that I am doing this for you.”
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said while addressing party workers in Lahore on late Friday night, “By returning Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif has proved that he is on right. Now for his return [from jail], it is your responsibility to vote for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidates on July 25. Despite lockdowns and street clashes, PML-N workers have proved that they are still with Sharif.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif tweeted a picture of her and her kids before leaving for Pakistan from London. Maryam's son was arrested by the London police for allegedly punching a man Friday.
Nearly 128 people were killed at an election rally in southwestern Pakistan by a suicide bomber during the second-election related attack Friday. This news comes amid growing tensions over ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif's return ahead of the July 25 vote, officials said. The attack is regarded as most deadly in the past three years in the country, making this incident, the third one this week relating to election-violence.
Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Sharif were shifted to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi today after their arrest in a graft case. They were arrested on their return to the country following the conviction in one of the three corruption cases against the powerful political family, weeks before the July 25 polls. Sharif and Maryam were shifted to Adiala jail in separate armoured vehicles escorted by police, reports PTI. According to jail manual, they can be medically examined at jail hospital. Maryam is expected to be moved later to Sihala Rest House which has been declared as sub-jail.
The father-daughter duo was moved to Sihala Police Training College Rest House shortly after being moved to Islamabad from Lahore tonight, reports Dawn. The rest house was declared as sub-jail for "keeping the convicted prisoner Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, ex-prime minister, and Ms. Mariam Nawaz, who have been arrested by NAB authorities, with immediate effect and till further orders," as per a notification issued by the Islamabad chief commissioner.
Both Nawaz Sharif and daughter Maryam Sharif were boarded onto a small chartered plane bound for Islamabad International Airport, Dawn reported. Before this, they were arrested at Lahore airport and their passports were confiscated.
Passports of Nawaz and Maryam Sharif has been confiscated as the two has been detained at the Lahore Airport. A PML-N rally headed by party president Shehbaz Sharif is heading towards the Allama Iqbal Airport and is currently at Charing Cross, Geo reported
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and daughter Maryam Nawaz have been arrested after arriving in Lahore. Nawaz and Maryam had departed from Abu Dhabi after their flight was delayed for over two hours. The two are likely to be flown to Islamabad.
According to Dawn, the National Accountability Bureau in Pakistan has now written a letter to the interior ministry, asking it to send a request to Interpol for the arrest of Mr Sharif’s sons Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz and former finance minister Ishaq Dar, who are also facing NAB references and presently staying in London.
According to latest reports coming from Pakistan, the father-daughter duo is likely to be taken in a small plane or in a helicopter to Islamabad International Airport. From there both Nawaz and Maryam Sharif will either be flown to Adiala Jail or driven to Attock Jail. Their flight home took off from Abu Dhabi around 5 pm local time and landed in Pakistan at around 8:45 pm PST.
Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif along with daughter Maryam today returned to the country to face arrest, a week after being convicted in a corruption case. The plane carrying Sharif and Maryam landed at Lahore's Allama Iqbal Airport at 9:15 IST, nearly three hours late from the scheduled arrival. The Etihad Airways flight EY243 arrived here from Abu Dhabi. Earlier they flew to the UAE capital from London, where Sharif's ailing wife is hospitalised.
Nawaz and his daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif are likely to be arrested, as they landed at the Lahore international airport just minutes ago.
Breaking | The flight carrying the two convicted PMLN leaders has landed at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport.
The flight carrying convicted duo of Nawaz and Maryam Sharif is in its final approach and has begun its dissent for the Lahore airport. The two are likely to be taken in a helicopter to Islamabad and then transported to Adiala Jail, suggest reports.
According to Express Tribune, Clashes also reported on Airport road in Lahore. Police use teargas shelling to restrain the party’s workers from approaching the airport. Clashes also reported on Airport road in Lahore. Police use teargas shelling to restrain the party’s workers from approaching the airport.
Authorities have decided to divert the plane carrying deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam to Islamabad airport, concerning security threats in Lahore, reports Express Tribune. Authorities are then expected to shift the two in a helicopter to Islamabad and then onwards to Adiala jail.
The flight carrying convicted Pak PM Nawaz Sharif enters Pakistani airspace, Dawn reported. The father-daughter duo who are in the last leg of their journey from London is likely to be arrested upon landing at the Lahore international airport.
Two powerful bomb blasts targeting politicians contesting in the general elections today killed at least 33 people, including a candidate, and injured nearly 80 others during election rallies in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. Militants targeted a gathering of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Siraj Raisani in Mastung area of Balochistan province, killing at least 28 people and injuring more than 40.
Also Read | Candidate among 33 killed in two blasts targeting Pak election rallies
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz took off from Abu Dhabi for Lahore shortly after 6pm on the last leg of their journey home from London. Their flight, Etihad Airways flight EY243, earlier scheduled to land at 6.15pm local time at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport, took off at 6.02pm PST after it suffered a nearly three-hour delay. It is now expected to land around 9pm PST, Dawn reported.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz took off from Abu Dhabi for Lahore shortly after 6pm on the last leg of their journey home from London. Their flight, Etihad Airways flight EY243, earlier scheduled to land at 6.15pm local time at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport, took off at 6.02pm PST after it suffered a nearly three-hour delay. It is now expected to land around 9pm PST.
In his long political career, Nawaz Sharif was able to bounce back from a military coup, a jail sentence and exile, to win an election and become Prime Minister for the third time. But his conviction on Friday, along with that of his daughter Maryam, his chosen political heir, by an accountability court is a blow from which it is tough, if not impossible, for him to make a political comeback.
Explained | Why Nawaz Sharif may find it hard to bounce back
At least eights persons have been killed and around 35 injured when the blast hit the rally of the Baluchistan Awami Party (BAP) in the Derengarh area of Mastung district, police said. The blast targeted a convoy led by Siraj, who is a candidate for the BAP for a provincial assembly seat from Mastung district. 'The injured have been shifted to different hospitals in Quetta,' an official said. The attack on the election rally was the second in the day as earlier a bomb blast took place near the convoy of Akram Khan Durrani, former Chief Minister of Khyber Pakthukawa province in Bannu area. (PTI)
After delay, the flight bringing Nawaz Sharif and his daughter is due to depart from Abu Dhabi airport shortly. According to reports the two have boarded the flight. Their flight, Etihad Airways flight EY243, earlier scheduled to land at 6.15pm local time at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport, is slated to take off shortly after it suffered a nearly three-hour delay, reported Dan.
The verdict was part of the Avenfield properties reference case filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Alongwith Sharif, his son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar was given a one year sentence. After the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif as Pakistan’s prime minister in the Panama case in July 2017, the NAB, filed three corruption references against the Sharif family. The Avenfield reference pertains to the purchase of four flats in Avenfield House, Park Lane, London.
Also Read | What is Avenfield reference case
Convicted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's career has been full of us and downs. The conviction is part of corrupt practices involved in purchase of the Avenfield apartments in London as the Sharif family fai;led to produce evidence and resources used in purchase of the real estate properties.
Also Read | The rise and fall of Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif: A timeline
Meanwhile, a Pakistani official says a bomb has exploded near the election rally of a politician running for a seat in a provincial legislature in the southwest, wounding him and 30 others. Qaim Lashari, deputy district commissioner, says Friday's attack targeted Siraj Raisani, a candidate from the Baluchistan Awami Party running for a seat in the legislature in July 25 elections. Lashari says the bombing took place in Mastung, a town in southwest Baluchistan province. It was the second election-related bombing Friday in this Islamic nation. Earlier, four people were killed and 20 others wounded in a bombing near the rally of Akram Khan Durrani, who is running for a seat in parliament from the northwestern city of Bannu, reports AP.
According to Dawn, the decision to arrest Mr Sharif and Ms Maryam at Allama Iqbal International Airport on their arrival from London on Friday was taken at a meeting chaired by Interior Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar and attended by the chief secretary of Punjab, inspector general of Punjab police, NAB’s director general Lahore, director general of the Federal Investigation Agency and Islamabad’s chief commissioner. “The provincial government of Punjab and NAB will act according to the law,” the interior secretary told Dawn.
Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif speaks to the media at Abu Dhabi airport, says, "I am coming back for the future generations of Pakistan. Mein karz chukane aa raha hun jo mujh par wajib hai."
Imran Khan questions the rise of violence alongside Pakistan's border as Nawaz Sharif faces arrest. in a tweet, Khan said, "Beginning to wonder why whenever Nawaz Sharif is in trouble, there is increasing tension along Pakistan's borders and a rise in terrorist acts? Is it a mere coincidence?"
According to Dawn, an airport official had stated the reason for the hold-up as a delay in an Etihad flight arriving in Abu Dhabi from Bangkok, which is then supposed to fly EY243's passengers to Lahore. Airport officials say the flight is expected to take off at 3.40pm local time (4.40pm PST), but boarding had not commenced as of 3:10pm. If the flight takes off on the new time, it will land in Lahore around 8pm local time.
Pakistani journalists indicated that there was a likelihood that the Pakistan's NAB wanted authorities to arrest Nawaz and Maryam Sharif during transit at the Abu Dhabi airport. however, there is no information of thheir arrest as of now and the two are likely to board for Lahore from Abu Dhabi airport.
Sharif's son-in-law is currently serving his 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 gotten money. Sharif is expected to appeal his conviction and seek bail. Ahead of his return, police swept through Lahore, arresting scores of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League party workers to prevent them from greeting him at the airport.
The Pakistan Supreme Court’s sentencing the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to 10 years and his daughter Maryam Nawaz to seven years in jail in the Panama Papers’ case has left many in the country and the world wondering if the verdict is entirely about accountability. Anti-corruption and accountability are indeed popular mantras in the country, especially amongst the literate youth and the middle class. But the judgment has a political context and ought to be viewed in that light.
Opinion | Nawaz Sharif’s conviction is not about corruption. It has to do with his questioning of the military
Former prime minister and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz are held up in Abu Dhabi on their way to Pakistan from London today. Their flight, Etihad Airways flight EY243, earlier scheduled to land at 6.15pm local time at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport, faces an unspecified delay, reports Dawn.
Amid tight securit arrangements across Lahore, the Punjab government has suspended mobile and internet services in the city ahead of Nawaz and Maryam Sharif's arrival for arrest in graft case.
"Nawaz really believes this is about democracy and his legacy," Musadik Malik, Sharif ally and former PML-N cabinet minister, told Reuters. "That is why he is willing to lose 10 years of his life over this." Sharif's PML-N expects a groundswell of support as he returns from London, where his wife Kulsoom is critically ill and undergoing cancer treatment. To prevent PML-N workers staging a hero's welcome on the streets, authorities said they will arrest the father and daughter upon landing and transport them to the capital Islamabad by helicopter, local media reported.
In more bad news for embattled Nawaz Sharif, British authorities have arrested two of the former Pakistan prime minister’s grandsons here over a scuffle with anti-Sharif protesters, according to a media report today. The verbal argument between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) opponents and Junaid Safdar, the son of party supremo Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, alongside Hussain Nawaz’s son Zakariya, quickly turned into a physical brawl moments before the Metropolitan Police arrived to break up the fight, Geo News reported.
Also Read | London police arrest Nawaz Sharif’s grandsons over brawl
Security has been tightened and all roads leading to Punjab's capital city have been blocked to prevent PML-N supporters to reach there. Travel to and from the airport had reportedly been restricted. Around 10,000 police officers have been deployed across the city to maintain law and order. They will be arrested on their arrival at Lahore airport from where they will be taken to Islamabad by helicopter so that they can be sent to Adiala jail for imprisonment, PTI reported.
Maryam Sharif was given 7 years for abetment after she was found "instrumental in concealment of the properties of her father" and 1 year for non-cooperation with the bureau. These sentences will also run concurrently; she will serve 7 years in total. According to the verdict, she "aided, assisted, abetted, attempted and acted in conspiracy with her father". "The trust deeds produced by the accused Maryam Nawaz were also found bogus," read the judgement.
Nawaz and Maryam Sharif are expected to land at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport at 6.15 PM on Friday via Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways flight EY243. The two had shared the details of the flight earlier.
Imran Khan is campaigning hard on populist promises of a prosperous Pakistan that breaks away from its persistent legacy of corruption, even as he expands appeals to nationalist and religious sentiment in the nuclear-armed, Muslim nation.
Also Read | Imran Khan “quietly confident” he will be Prime Minister
Addressing a rally here on Thursday, Khan said, "How will Muslim Leaguers go to the airport to receive Nawaz Sharif? Will they tell their children that they went to welcome the thief (Sharif) who had looted billions of rupees from the country?" He asserted that no PML-N party worker with a clear conscience would go to the airport to receive Sharif. "And whoever will go to receive him will be a donkey (fool)," according to The News International report quoting Khan.
Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz reaches Abu Dhabion their way to Pakistan from London. The former Pakistan PM said that he is 'scrificing' for the people of Pakistan.
Nawaz Sharif has been banned from participating in politics, and his brother Shahbaz Sharif now heads his Pakistan Muslim League and is fighting for re-election on July 25. Ahead of Sharif's return, police swept through Lahore, arresting scores of his Pakistan Muslim League party workers to prevent them from greeting him at the airport.
The court had last week granted Sharif a 10-year jail term and his daughter Maryam sevens year imprisonment. Sharif's son-in-law is already serving a one-year sentence on the same corruption charge. Click here for a quick recap of the case against the family.
Security beefed up in Lahore ahead of Sharif, Maryam's arrival. (Photos: AP)
Sharif and Maryam are likely to appeal against their convictions and seek bail. They still have recourse to two stages of appeal — in the Islamabad High Court and in the Supreme Court. The court, however, may prevent them from leaving the country.
Nirupama Subramanian writes: In his long political career, Nawaz Sharif was able to bounce back from a military coup, a jail sentence and exile, to win an election and become Prime Minister for the third time. But his conviction on Friday, along with that of his daughter Maryam, his chosen political heir, by an accountability court is a blow from which it is tough, if not impossible, for him to make a political comeback.
The timing of the verdict, days before the July 25 election, is bound to affect the PML(N)’s poll prospects. Nawaz may still be able to change the narrative of the victimised democratic leader who fell foul of the military for wanting peace with India and speaking out against the flawed regional security policies of the security establishment. But that can happen only if he and his daughter return to Pakistan. Read more here.
In case you're just joining us, here's a quick update on what's happening: Former PM Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam will arrive in Lahore at around 6 pm this evening on an Etihad Airways flight EY243 from Abu Dhabi. The duo is likely to be arrested on landing by the police, a week after they were convicted in a corruption court. They will be flown from Lahore to Islamabad and sent to Adiala jail for imprisonment, reported Dawn.
Meanwhile, Sharif’s grandsons, Junaid Safdar and Zakaria Hussain, were arrested Friday for allegedly punching a demonstrator outside their residence in London. According to DawnNewsTV, initial reports suggested that one among the protesters who had gathered outside the Avenfield residence in London hurled abuses at Sharif’s grandsons, which prompted the two men to allegedly grab the victim by his collar and punch him. Read the entire report here.
Sharif and Maryam at the Abu Dhabi airport. Maryam has been active on social media, retweeting posts by users. This is a video that she has shared, which is captioned "move like a hero, live like a lion".
An Accountability Court in Pakistan found former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz guilty of illegitimately purchasing four luxury flats on Park Lane in the heart of London. In a ruling last week, the court sentences Sharif to 10 years in jail and Maryam to seven. The case was first highlighted during the Panama Papers investigation when a trove of documents from law firm Mossack Fonseca was disclosed to reveal how the rich set up offshore entities in tax havens.
Express Explained | Why Nawaz Sharif may find it hard to bounce back
In a video message, Sharif says he is returning to Pakistan knowing that he will be imprisoned immediately. He is likely to move an application for bail. The video has been tweeted by Maryam from their aircraft en route to Pakistan.
"The country is at a critical juncture right now. I have done what I could. I am aware that I have been sentenced to 10 years [in prison] and I will be taken to a jail cell straight away. But I want the Pakistani nation to know that I am doing this for you," Sharif, 68, is quoted as saying by PTI.
Ayesha Siddiqa writes: "There is little doubt that all this is not about ending corruption. Instead, the powerful military is punishing a former client, and re-shaping the country’s political field. Just like Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who had the support of some segments of the military in 1971 but was abandoned, and then physically eliminated, Sharif is being removed before his party becomes too powerful."
Read the entire column Patronage and Punishment.