The three-time premier of Pakistan has three corruption cases against him. He was today convicted in Avenfield corruption case. The Avenfield properties case pertains to the ownership of four flats in the posh Avenfield House in London.
Accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir pronounced the verdict behind closed doors. Sharif was sentenced in absentia to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by the anti-graft court, leading to a major setback to his party PML-N ahead of elections on July 25. His son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar was given a one year sentence.
While Sharif was fined 8 million pounds (USD 10 million), his daughter Maryam was handed down a 2 million pound (USD 2.6 million) fine. The judgement runs in over 100 pages. Authorities had deployed a large number of security personnel in and around the Federal Judicial Complex, where the court is located. The roads leading to the complex have also been closed to the general traffic.
Father-daughter sentenced in absentia:
68-year-old Sharif is in London attending to his wife Kulsoom Nawaz who was diagnosed with throat cancer last year. Sharif and his daughter Maryam have made several trips back and forth from London to attend the hearings and attend to the ailing Kulsoom.
The case:
The Avenfield case was among the three corruption cases filed against the former premier and his children by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on the Supreme Court's orders in the Panama Papers case which disqualified Sharif.
Sharif resigned as Pakistan prime minister last year after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding public office and ruled that graft cases be filed against the beleaguered leader and his children over the Panama Papers scandal.
Sharif's two sons - Hasan and Hussain - also wanted in the case, have been declared proclaimed offenders owing to their no-show.
'Punished because I tried to turn the course of Pakistan's 70-year history', responds Nawaz
The deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif today said he has been punished because he tried to turn the course of Pakistan's 70-year history. Addressing a press conference in London along with his daughter Maryam, Sharif said, "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." He remarked that if the punishment for "demanding respect for the vote is jail, I am coming to face it".
Maryam Nawaz's reaction to being convicted:
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."
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan on the verdict:
Addressing a rally in Swat as part of his party's electoral campaign, Khan said "Nobody would take me seriously when I used to say that they [Sharifs and Zardari] have bought properties abroad. I thank God today because the struggle that I began 22 years ago [has now borne fruit]," Khan was quoted by The Dawn, as saying.
(With inputs from PTI)