Nawaz Sharif sentenced to seven years in prison in Al-Azizia reference case

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Monday sentenced former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to seven years in prison in Al-Azizia reference case, ARY News reported.

The accountability court judge Muhammad Arshad Malik announced the verdict in the two references namely Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment today and sentenced the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader to seven years in prison and ordered him to pay $25million and Rs1.5 billion as fine.

Already disqualified for holding public office, Nawaz Sharif was however acquitted of all charges in the Flagship Investment case.

The judge had reserved the verdict after completion of hearing in both the cases filed against three-time prime minister last week.

The former premier was arrested by a NAB team soon after the verdict was announced. The former PM was about to be moved to Rawalpindi’s Adiala prison but was transferred to Lahore after his counsel requested the court to move him to the city on medical grounds.

The court issued a detailed verdict after an hour in both the cases while Nawaz Sharif’s counsel has announced to challenge the verdict in Al-Azizia reference.  NAB team, on the other hand, is challenging the verdict in Flagship Investment reference.

The judge on Dec 21 rejected an application by Sharif’s lawyer Khawaja Haris to defer the judgment.

Mr Sharif arrived in Islamabad from Lahore on Sunday to hear the judgment in the courtroom. Security around the Judicial Complex in the capital was beefed up to avoid any untoward incident.

What happened when in Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment case 

A total of 22 witnesses had recorded their statements in the Al-Azizia reference, while 16 witnesses recorded their depositions in the Flagship reference.

Mr Sharif opted not to present any defence in both cases. However, his lawyer Khawaja Haris presented a rebuttal to allegations levelled by the prosecution against his client.

Over the course of the trial, the PML-N supreme leader defended the accusation of being real owner and beneficiary of the offshore properties, which he maintained belongs to his sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz.

He said the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), tasked to probe his wealth, had declared him as the real owner of Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metals Establishment, but he was not the owner nor was a he “benamidaar” of both the properties.

He had maintained that NAB failed to present any evidence to prove that he owned both the businesses.

The Supreme Court extended the deadline for conclusion of both the references for the eight times earlier this month with a caution that if the trial court didn’t wrap up proceedings and announce its verdict by Dec 24, it would have to come up with a satisfactory explanation.

The former premier, his daughter and her spouse were convicted by an accountability court in the Avenfield reference, one of the three references filed against members of the Sharif family, on July 6.

All three were released from jail after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended their prison terms.

The corruption references were filed in compliance with the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict last year.

https://arynews.tv/en/detailed-judgement-of-accountability-court-in-al-azizia-reference-case/

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