Daily Times

An accountability court hearing corruption references against the Sharif family on Friday sentenced ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif to 10 years in prison over his family’s purchase of upscale London flats in a major blow to his party ahead of a general election in July.

The guilty verdict in absentia against Sharif, 68, threatens to end the career of one Pakistan’s most high-profile politicians over the last four decades, a political survivor who served as prime minister on three occasions.

Sharif’s daughter, Maryam, widely seen as his chosen political heir, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Maryam’s husband and PML-N lawmaker Muhammad Safdar was sentenced to one year in prison, prosecution lawyer Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi said as the NAB court concluded the nine-month long trial.

Abbasi added that NAB court ordered Sharif to pay a fine of 8 million pounds ($10.6 million) and Maryam was fined 2 million pounds, while ordering the confiscation of the London properties on behalf of the Pakistani government.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court accused Sharif and his family of being unable to legitimately show the money trail for the purchase of several luxurious properties in London, mostly in the mid-1990s.

But he has kept control of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party that he founded.

The decision against the Sharifs comes at a critical time ahead of the July 25 polls.

Sharif had denounced the court proceedings against him as “politically motivated” and a “judicial witch-hunt”.

Hours before the verdict, Maryam’s husband Safdar referred to it as a “funeral” for justice, the PML-N media office said in a statement.

“It is to be seen if this decision is written by a judge or a general,” Safdar said.

The military, which has ruled the nuclear-armed country for almost half of its history, denies involvement in civilian politics.

The NAB had filed the reference regarding the high-end properties in London, along with two others, on the Supreme Court’s directives in the landmark Panamagate verdict last year which deseated Nawaz as the prime minister.

Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court in July 2017 and barred from politics for being “dishonest” by failing to report a monthly income of 10,000 Emirati dirham ($2,723) from a company owned by his son. He denies drawing the monthly salary.

Four members of the Sharif family — Nawaz, Maryam, Hassan and Hussain — are in London, while Captain Safdar is in Pakistan, but was not present in court.

Soon after the verdict, Maryam took to Twitter to share this message: “This is a very small punishment for firmly standing in front of unseen forces. The morale to fight against oppression has increased today.”

Earlier, the counsel for the family had submitted an application to the accountability court on Thursday, seeking a seven-day postponement in the announcement of the verdict. The plea, however, was rejected in the morning.

The atmosphere outside the court in Islamabad – where the fate of the Sharif family members was announced – was thick with tension and buzzing with media and security personnel. Both the capital police force and Rangers were deployed in riot gear outside the court.

Moreover, Section 144 was imposed in the capital and police in the garrison city were on high alert. City Police Officer (CPO) Abbas Ahsan said that although a “strong retaliation” was not expected after the decision, they were taking precautionary measures to maintain peace in the city.

Published in Daily Times, July 7^th 2018.