Islamabad HC Orders Release of Nawaz Sharif and Daughter Maryam

The HC also ordered the release of Sharif’s son-in-law Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar.

Nawaz Sharif (right) and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were arrested shortly after they were convicted in a corruption case on 6 July. 

(Photo: The Quint)

The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday, 19 September, suspended the sentence of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar in a corruption case handed down to them by an anti-graft tribunal earlier this year.

This development comes after Sharif, along with his family, had challenged the accountability of a court order which had convicted them on 6 July.   

A Pakistan news website reported that the judge issued an initial order that even if the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) does not conclude its arguments, a verdict will be announced on the basis of the pleas filed by Sharif and his family.

The court also ordered Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar, be released once they each post a bond of half a million rupees, or about $4,000.

Sharif, Maryam and Capt Safdar will be released from jail after completion of formalities, reported Dawn.

Sharif and his family were convicted with charges of corruption in the Avenfield properties corruption reference filed by NAB. 

The Accountability court handed Nawaz Sharif 10 years of jail time for owning assets beyond his known income and one year for not cooperating with the investigations.

His daughter was sentenced to seven years in prison for abetment after she was accused of concealing the properties of her father. She was given another year for not cooperating with the NAB. His son-in-law on the other hand, was given a year's sentence for not cooperating with the NAB and abetting and aiding his wife and father-in-law.

(With inputs from Dawn and International News Pakistan.)

(This is a developing story and will be updated as fresh details come in.)