Pakistan ex-PM Sharif sentenced to 10 years for corruption
7-11-2018
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Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to 10 years in jail in a corruption case verdict announced in capital Islamabad Friday that immediately saw an outcry of “injustice” by his party supporters.
The anti-corruption court in capital Islamabad also imposed a fine of 8 million pounds ($10.58 million) on Sharif.
The three-time premier, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar were all found guilty of buying four apartments at Avenfield House in London’s posh Park Lane area in 1993 allegedly through illegal means.
Maryam and her husband Safdar were sentenced to seven years and one year in jail, respectively. Both were also disqualified from contesting the upcoming elections.
The court also ordered the confiscation of the four apartments in London, and imposed a fine of 2 million pounds ($2.65 million) on Maryam, prosecution lawyer Sardar Muzzafer Abbasi told reporters in Islamabad.
Last July, 68-year-old Sharif was barred from holding public office by the Supreme Court over the whistleblower Panama Papers scandal, which also led to the filing of three corruption case, including the Avenfield properties case against him and his family. Not long after, the top court also barred him from holding the leadership of his political party, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N).
The accountability court judge gave its verdict after a 107-day hearing of the case that had gripped the nation. It sentenced Maryam Nawaz to another year in jail for misleading the court by submitting a forged sale deed.
The convicts will have a chance to challenge the verdict in the high court within seven days, and later in the Supreme Court.
Currently, former premier Nawaz Sharif is in London with his ailing wife Begum Kalsoom Nawaz, who is battling cancer. Maryam Nawaz is also with them.
After the verdict, Maryam Nawaz tweeted: "Well done, Nawaz Sharif, you were not intimidated, you did not bow. The people of Pakistan are with you".
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