Islamabad: Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to seven years in jail by an anti-corruption court on Monday for his involvement in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills graft case. Sharif was acquitted in the Flagship Investment case in the high-profile Panama Papers scandal.
Here are the main highlights:
- After reserving the decision last week, Accountability Court II Judge Muhammad Arshad Malik announced the verdict.
- Malik, while sentencing the 68-year-old former Prime Minister, said that there was concrete evidence against him in the Al-Azizia case.
- Sharif was accused of holding assets beyond his known sources of income. The court has now ordered that his properties be seized.
- Pakistani media reported that the court has also fined $25 million in the case.
- Three cases -- Avenfield properties case, Flagship Investment case and Al-Azizia steel mills case -- were launched by the National Accountability Bureau on September 8, 2017, following a judgment by the apex court that disqualified Sharif.
- Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case in July 2017.
- In July 2018, Sharif, his daughter Maryam and his son-in-law retired captain Mohammad Safdar were sentenced to 11 years, eight years and one year, respectively, in prison in the Avenfield properties case related to their purchase of four luxury flats in London through corrupt practices. However, the three were bailed out by the Islamabad High Court in September.
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