Nawaz Sharif lodged in Adiala Jail, daughter shifted to guest house

Islamabad : Pakistan’s former Prime Minister who was arrested late on Friday has been shifted to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, while his daughter Maryam Nawaz was sent to Seihala Rest House, declared as temporary sub-jail.

The Accountability Court, according to Geo News, has issued imprisonment warrants for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam.

Sharif, along with Maryam, was arrested as they returned to eastern city of Lahore from London to serve a 10-year and seven-year jail term, respectively, on corruption charges, officials said.

Sharif, a three-time Prime Minister, and his daughter were in London to look after his ailing wife when an anti-graft court convicted them of corruption and handed down prison terms.

A National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team took Sharif and Maryam in its custody from the aircraft, while their passports were confiscated by officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Airport security official surrounded the Sharifs and led them to another plane to take them to a jail in Rawalpindi city near capital Islamabad.

Earlier, angry supporters of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the party of Sharif, clashed with the riot police in Lahore, the capital city of Punjab province, when they were prevented from proceeding towards the airport to welcome their leader.

Police had blocked all roads to the airport to stop the PML-N activists and banned political gatherings.

Shahbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, who now heads the PML-N, was leading the procession to the airport.

The Accountability Court, Pakistan’s anti-corruption court, had ruled on July 6 that Nawaz Sharif owns assets beyond his income and concealed his property abroad.

The court imposed an 8-million pound penalty on Nawaz Sharif and a 2-million pound fine on Maryam Nawaz.

Sharif’s son-in-law Mohammad Safdar was also awarded a one-year sentence.

On July 28, 2017, Sharif had to resign as Prime Minister after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding any public office for concealing his earnings.

In April the apex court disqualified Sharif for lifetime from the parliament and also barred him from heading a political party.

Published on: July 14, 2018 at 00:06 IST

IANS