Islamabad: Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will challenge his 10-year jail term and seek bail next week, his legal team said on Saturday. “We will file an appeal and seek bail on Monday,” Advocate Amjad Parvez, a member of Sharif’s legal team, said.
Since their return to Pakistan from London on Friday, the three-time prime minister and his daughter Maryam Nawaz have been imprisoned in a high security jail in Rawalpindi, where they could also face trial in two corruption cases.
“They want to keep the proceedings of the trial away from the media’s eye,” Mushahidullah Khan, lawmaker and spokesman for Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, said.
Khan said that Sharif is not a “terrorist” and that the trial should not take place in jail. The people should be aware of the proceedings, although “we do not expect justice,” he said. Sharif and his daughter were sentenced to 10 and eight years in jail respectively by an anti-graft court last week on charges related to information contained in the 2016 Panama papers leaks.
On Friday, Sharif arrived from London to face jail as his followers clashed with security forces.
Tens of thousands of supporters rallied in the eastern city of Lahore, PML-N’s political base, in a bid to reach the airport to welcome their leader, but only a few could make it there due to the heavy deployment of security forces.
The court ruling, which came just weeks ahead of national elections,has reinforced suspicions held by many that the country’s powerful military colluded with the judiciary to prevent Sharif’s party from seeking another term. — dpa
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