Nawaz Sharif has filed an appeal against the verdict of the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference in the Islamabad High Court — a week after an accountability court awarded a seven-year jail term to the former prime minister in the case.
On December 24, 2018, Accountability Court II Judge Arshad Malik had sentenced Nawaz to seven years in prison along with a fine of Rs1.5 billion and US$25 million in the Al-Azizia corruption reference. The former premier is serving his term in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail.
The appeal against Nawaz’s conviction in the reference was filed by his counsel Khawaja Haris. In the appeal, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader has requested the high court to declare his sentence null and void, and release him on bail.
He has argued that the court's verdict is grounded in an incorrect interpretation of the law. The accountability court which announced the verdict failed to cater to the objections raised by the accused, the appeal states.
A separate petition has also been filed seeking suspension of Nawaz’s sentence in the reference. A two-member divisional bench of the Islamabad High Court will hear the appeal against Nawaz’s conviction and sentence.
