Pakistan: Sharif, Maryam locked in Adiala Jail, family goes to meet

The family members included the former leader's brother Shahbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Shahbaz and Maryam Nawaz's daughter Meharun Nisa.

Islamabad: Family members met former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi after the two began serving their prison terms for owning properties disproportionate to their sources of income. The family members included the former leader's brother Shahbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Shahbaz and Maryam Nawaz's daughter Meharun Nisa. They were flown to Islamabad from Lahore on a special plane for the meeting, which took place on Saturday night in the jail superintendent's room and continued for more than two hours, reports Dawn news. No other party leader or worker visited Sharif and Maryam on their first day in jail, as the authorities had allocated on Thursday for the visitors wanting to meet them. Saturday night's meeting was arranged on a special permission of the government, a senior official told Dawn. Hours before the visit, Shahbaz Sharif told a press conference in Lahore that the party would use all available options, legal and political, to challenge the caretaker government's decision about the jail trial of the former Prime Minister. Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz were handed down 10 and seven years' imprisonment, respec­tively, in the London properties case last week, days before the July 25 polls. After their return from London on Friday night, the caretaker law ministry issued a notification declaring that the accountability court will conduct trial in the Flagship Investment and Al Azizia Steel Mills references against Nawaz Sharif in Adiala jail. Meanwhile, the Punjab home department notified "Better Class" category in Adiala jail for the former prime minister and his son-in-law retired Capt Mohammad Safdar on their formal requests, while Maryam refused to apply for the better class. Meanwhile, the cabinet sub-committee also approved a request to put the three-time Prime Minister and his daughter on no-fly list. The Sharifs have maintained that the cases are manufactured by their political foes and the country's powerful military.