Islamabad, Pakistan; The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court has sentenced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to 10 years in prison on corruption charges.
Nawaz was convicted under NAO 1999 9(a)(v): "A holder of a public office, or any other person, is said to commit or to have committed the offence of corruption and corrupt practices... if he or any of his dependents or benamidar owns, possesses, or has acquired right or title in any assets or holds irrevocable power of attorney in respect of any assets or pecuniary resources disproportionate to his known sources of income, which he cannot reasonably account for or maintains a standard of living beyond that which is commensurate with his sources of income."
Sharif was sentenced in absentia because he is currently in London and. His daughter and son-in-law were also convicted.
According to BBC News, “Judge Mohammad Bashir ordered Sharif to serve 10 years for owning assets beyond income and one year for not co-operating with the NAB. The sentences are to be served concurrently.”
“Daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif, also in London, received seven years for abetting a crime and one year for not co-operating - again to run concurrently - while son-in-law Safdar Awan was given a one-year sentence for not co-operating.
Sharif and Maryam also received fines of £8m ($10.6m) and £2m respectively.”, reported BBC News.
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.
Sharif family insisted that they had purchased the apartments through ‘legitimate’ financial resources, but were unable to disclose those resources before the accountability court or the Supreme Court.
Sharif's lawyer, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, confirmed that they would appeal against the conviction.
Sharif's brother, Shahbaz Sharif, current leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PMLN), said in a statement that the party "strongly rejects the verdict." "The decision is flawed, politically motivated and has glaring loopholes," he said.
According to CNN News, “Sharif was ordered by the Supreme Court to step down from the Prime Minister's office in July 2017 following a government probe into his family's wealth after publication of the Panama Papers.”
According to Dawn, “NAB will now wait for a certain time period for all three convicts to surrender. If they fail to do so, NAB will initiate the procedure to bring Maryam and Nawaz back, and arrest Safdar.”
“Moreover, Section 144 was imposed in the capital and police in the garrison city were on high alert. City Police Officer (CPO) Abbas Ahsan told Dawn earlier that although "strong retaliation" is not expected after the decision, they are taking precautionary measures to maintain peace in the city.”, reported Dawn.
Nawaz Sharif, who is in London, announced on Friday evening that he would return to Pakistan to "face prison”. Nawaz, however, did not give any specific time or date for his return to Pakistan.
