Nawaz, Maryam, son-in-law challenge ‘guilty’ judgment

Islamabad: Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar filed separate appeals in the Islamabad high court against the guilty verdict in the Avenfield corruption case and sought to be released on bail.

Seven separate appeals were filed by their lawyers — three on behalf of Sharif, and two each on behalf of Maryam and Safdar — highlighting the legal flaws in the Avenfield verdict, while pleading that the Islamabad Accountability Court’s verdict be nullified. Their lawyers also sought their release on bail.

Sharif, 68, and his daughter Maryam, 44, were arrested in Lahore on Friday on their arrival from London. On July 6, an accountability court had sentenced Nawaz to 10 years in prison for owning assets beyond known income, along with a fine of £8 million. Maryam, found guilty of concealing her father’s properties, was sentenced to seven years in jail and fined £2 million. Capt Safdar was handed one year in jail for aiding and abetting Nawaz and Maryam.