Sharif Pakistani ex-PM jailed 10 years in absentia
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the nab court ordered sharif to pay a fine of 8 million pounds 10.6 million and fined maryam 2 million pounds while ordering the confiscation of the london properties on behalf of the pakistani government abbasi said1 a pakistani court on friday sentenced ousted prime minister nawaz sharif to 10 years in prison for corrupt practices linked to his familys purchase of upscale london flats in a major blow to his party ahead of general elections on july 251 a political ally said sharif would return to pakistan from london to file an appeal facing arrest on arrival just before the election in which his party is in a close race with opposition figure imran khans party1 todays verdict shows that these avenfield apartments were purchased using corruption money prosecution lawyer sardar muzaffar abbasi told reporters citing the name of the apartment building in london1 sharifs daughter maryam widely seen as his chosen political heir was sentenced to seven years in prison. maryams husband and pml-n lawmaker muhammad safdar was handed a year in jail he said1 the people of pakistan and pml-n reject this decision said sharifs brother shehbaz who took over as pml-n president after his brother was banned from holding office for life and is expected to be its prime ministerial candidate1 this decision is based on injustice1 sharif and his daughter were in london on friday with sharifs wife kulsoom who is being treated for cancer and is in a coma after suffering a heart attack last month1 both denied wrongdoing and will appeal the decision said sharif ally tariq fazal chaudhry adding that the former premier would return to pakistan before the election1 the guilty verdict in absentia against sharif 68 threatens to end the career of one of pakistans most high-profile politicians of the last four decades a political survivor who was prime minister three times1 the national accountability bureau nab court accused sharif and his family of money laundering and being unable to legitimately show the money trail for the purchase of several luxurious properties in london mostly in the mid-1990s1 a copy of the verdict said the sharif family had failed to prove a legal source of income for the purchase of avenfield apartments in 1993 1995 and 19961 sharif was ousted by the supreme court in july 2017 and barred from politics for being dishonest by failing to report a monthly income of 10000 emirati dirhams 2723 from a company owned by his son. he denies drawing the monthly salary1 but he has kept de facto control of the pakistan muslim league-nawaz pml-n party that he founded1 the decision comes at a time of growing suspicion of military meddling in politics ahead of the polls as well as media complaints of being muzzled1 sharif had denounced the court proceedings against him as politically motivated and a judicial witch-hunt often suggesting the military was to blame1 justice has been massacred maryams husband safdar said after the verdict1 pakistans military which has ruled the nuclear-armed country for almost half its history denies involvement in civilian politics. but the military ended sharifs second stint in power in 1999 in a bloodless coup1