Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif. (AP)
Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to 10 years in jail by an anti-graft court in Pakistan on Friday. Sharif’s daughter Maryam was also sentenced to seven years in a corruption case involving the purchase of four luxury apartments in London’s Avenfield House. Accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir pronounced the verdict behind closed doors. The verdict, which has already been postponed once, comes ahead of the general elections in Pakistan on 25 July and will impact the poll prospects of the Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz (PML-N), which is facing stiff competition from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf.
Read: What is the corruption case against Nawaz Sharif?
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Hours after the conviction, ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif said that he has been punished because he tried to turn the course of Pakistan's 70-year history, according to a report in Dawn.
"I promise that I will continue this struggle until Pakistanis are not free of the chains that they are kept in for saying the truth," Nawaz said.
Nawaz remarked that if the punishment for "demanding respect for the vote is jail, I am coming to face it", adding that he will "not be a slave to those who violate their oath and the Constitution of Pakistan".
Maryam Nawaz Friday said that attempts were being made to stop her father and deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif from returning to Pakistan and appealed to party cadres to be positive ahead of the July 25 elections when the "real verdict" would be revealed. Maryam Nawaz today said that attempts were being made to stop her father and deposed prime ministrer Nawaz Sharif from returning to Pakistan and appealed to party cadres to be positive ahead of the July 25 elections when the "real verdict" would be revealed.
"This isn't new for Nawaz Sharif. He has undergone disqualification and life imprisonment before," she said in a tweet.
Maryam took to Twitter to state that "forces" have never been successful in breaking Sharif's resolve in the face of adversity.
1990 – First elected prime minister1993 – Removed as prime minister by Pakistan’s president. He is reinstated by Supreme Court but then resigns under pressure and his party loses elections to the Pakistan People’s Party of Benazir Bhutto.1997- Elected prime minister for second time.2000-2007 – Allowed to go into exile in Saudi Arabia in 2000 amid reports of a deal with the military, he was given a presidential pardon the day his family left.2008 – Loses election to the party of Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated ahead of the polls.2013 – Elected prime minister for the third time.April 4, 2016 – The leaked Panama Papers show the involvement of Sharif’s family in offshore companiesJuly 28, 2017 – Supreme Court declares Sharif disqualified from office for not declaring income from a company in United Arab EmiratesApril 13, 2018 – The Supreme Court further rules Sharif is banned from political office for life.
Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif had earlier on Monday accused the country chief justice of rushing through the hearings in the three corruption cases filed against him, terming it an “extremely unfortunate” example of “oppression and injustice”.
Sharif claimed that his fundamental rights were being violated as no lawyer would take up a case where he is not even allowed time to prepare and is asked to appear even on the weekends.
“Does the chief justice (Mian Saqib Nisar) not know that justice rushed is justice crushed?” Sharif, 68, was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.
Reacting to the verdict, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imarn Khan said, 'This is the beginning of a new Pakistan.'
"Nobody would take me seriously when I used to say that Sharifs and Zardari have bought properties abroad," Khan said according to a report in Dawn. He further said that Sharif should have been arrested much earlier had the institutions in Pakistan were functioning properly.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan had earlier on Thursday accused Nawaz Sharif of presenting his wife's ailment as a tool to emotionally blackmail the people of Pakistan. 'Nawaz Sharif you will read this Avenfield reference verdict in newspapers; Adiala jail is waiting for you,' Imran maintained.
All our candidates of PMLN are going to contest the election and during their campaign, they'll use the platform to highlight the injustice done to us and our disappointment in the decision, said Shehbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif on Islamabad Court's verdict in Avenfield Reference case. "We will take all legal and constitutional routes to fight for justice. Nawaz Sharif has always fought bravely," he added. Read More
According to media reports, Sharif and Maryam were in their apartment in the Avenfield building in London when the decision was announced. Besides Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Safdar, his sons Hassan and Hussain were also co-accused. The two sons never appeared before the court and were declared as absconders. The judgement runs into over 100 pages.
According to a report in Dawn, PML-N Chairman Shahbaz Sharif on Friday held a press conference soon after the Avenfield corruption reference verdict was announced. "This will be remembered as a black day in history," Shahbaz said while adding that Nawaz appeared before the accountability court 109 times.