ISLAMABAD - In a judgment that will bear heavily on upcoming elections and echo for decades in Pakistan’s political theatre, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz have been sentenced to several years in jail and slapped with heavy fines.
Islamabad Accountability Court on Friday sentenced Nawaz in absentia to 10 years imprisonment and Maryam to seven years over dubious purchases of luxury apartments in London.
Maryam’s husband Muhammad Safdar was also handed down one year jail term in the same case for assisting his wife in misleading the court through a bogus trust deed which he signed on as a witness.
A fine of eight and two million pounds was also imposed on the father and the daughter respectively in the Avenfield Apartments Reference, which is one of the three corruption cases filed by NAB in light of Supreme Court’s judgment in Panama Papers case.
In the 74-page verdict, the court ordered the federal government to confiscate Sharifs’ high-end properties in London's exclusive Mayfair neighbourhood.
The judgment also rendered convicts disqualified to hold any public office for 10 years until they undergo the sentence. They were also barred from taking any monetary benefit during this period.
A further one year jail was awarded to Nawaz for non-cooperation with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Maryam was also given an additional one year term for forging documents.
But these one-year sentences are to run concurrent with the prime sentences so in effect they are to serve only 10 and seven years in prison respectively.
Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, the sons of Nawaz Sharif, who have been absconding the NAB court hearings were declared proclaimed offenders and the court issued perpetual non-bailable arrest warrants for them.
Though he was sentenced for being benamnar owner of London flats, Nawaz Sharif – the two-time chief minister of Punjab and three-time prime minister –was acquitted of the charges of committing corruption while in office, as alleged by NAB.
Maryam was primarily sentenced for aiding and abetting the crime, and playing the front-man for her father.
Tense environment
The much-awaited verdict was announced by Judge Muhammad Bashir after repeated delays and amid a tense environment. There was so much confusion that the court delayed the verdict for five times – from 9am to 12:30pm, to 2:30pm, to 3:30pm, to 4:30pm, when it was finally announced.
The media personnel, who were ordered out, gathered in a bathroom and heard the judgment from a window that opened into the courtroom. Also, the reporters could not get copies of the verdict as the photocopy machine of the court was out of order.
Tight security was arranged at the court premises while police in riot gear and Rangers personnel were also deployed around the court to avert any violent protests by Nawaz’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N).
Reactions
In a press conference held shortly after the verdict, Nawaz’s brother and former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif rejected the judgment by calling it a politically motivated decision.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan, the major force behind the trial of Sharifs, was jubilant. Addressing a public rally in Swat, he said the judgment marked the initiation of the new Pakistan he has dreamt of.
"I thank God that for the first time in history a powerful (person) has been sentenced by the justice system in Pakistan," Khan told his cheering supporters. "Now big plunderers will not come to power, but will go to jail."
Speaking to the media later, Nawaz Sharif – who along with Maryam and his other family members is in London to look after his ailing wife Kalsoom Nawaz – vowed to return and face the punishment.
Maryam tweeted that the adverse decision has emboldened them to more vigorously challenge the hidden forces that are creating troubles for them.
Political impact
Nawaz Sharif was ousted from his third term as prime minister by the Supreme Court last year following a corruption investigation and banned from politics for life, but remains a powerful symbol for his ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.
He has termed the charges against him a conspiracy by the powerful military, which has ruled the country for roughly half its 70-year history.
Small protests quickly broke out after the verdict at the court in Islamabad despite the heavy security there and in some other cities including Gujranwala and Multan in Punjab, the Sharif dynasty's provincial stronghold. The protests however were much weaker than expected.
Political experts said the judgment would deal a serious blow to the PML-N’s troubled campaign ahead of July 25 elections.
On the other hand, it provides a potentially significant boost for the main opposition party led by former World Cup cricketer Imran Khan.
Analysts said the verdict would damage the PML-N's campaign, as the less charismatic Shahbaz seeks to fend off the challenge by Khan's Movement for Justice and other parties.
"No matter what the PML-N says, the decision is going to damage their vote bank," said analyst Rifaat Hussain.
Recent surveys show that up to 22 percent of voters are undecided, he said, and with further serious allegations of corruption against the PML-N leadership there is little chance of Sharif mobilising the "sympathy factor" after the verdict to attract support.
The ruling has put Sharif in a "difficult position", agreed analyst Rasool Bakhsh Rais. "If Sharif does not come back, his party is over. If he comes back, he will have to fight cases and he will be suffering a lot – but in this way he will save his party."
Nawaz Sharif, who at times during his premiership appeared to seek a better relationship with Pakistan's arch-enemy India, has since his ouster repeatedly accused the military of wanton political interference.
The verdict coming just weeks before the polls fuelled narratives he was being targeted, said analyst Michael Kugelman.
"A culmination of fair justice served or politicised selective justice? Timing alone suggests the answer," he tweeted.
But Kugelman also suggested the party was becoming a "spent force": "The walls are closing in, and rapidly".
Details of court judgment
The court handed down the jail terms and fine to both Nawaz and Maryam under Section 9-A5 of NAB Ordinance for holding and owing assets beyond their known source of income and maintaining assets and properties in the capacity of benamidar.
The NAB court also termed Qatari prince’s letters, presented by the Sharif family in their defence, mere hearsay having no substantial proof.
The court ordered in the judgment that Avenfield apartments stand forfeited by the federal government under section 10(a) of NAO, 1999.
The detailed judgment read: “The guilt of the accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz u/s 9(a)(v) NAO. 1999 read with serial No.2 of the schedule attached with the said Ordinance punishable u/s 10 of NAO, 1999/ said serial No.2 of schedule.
“Therefore, he accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is hereby convicted and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a term of ten years with a fine 08 million pounds. He is also convicted and sentenced under offence cited at Serial No.2 for one-year. Both the sentences shall run concurrently.”
About Maryam, the judgement said, “The trust deeds produced by the accused Maryam Nawaz were also found bogus. She/accused Maryam Nawaz was instrumental in concealment of the properties of her father accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
“This accused Maryam Nawaz aided assisted, abetted, attempted and acted in conspiracy with her father accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif who was the holder of public office. Therefore, the prosecution has succeeded to establish her guilt within the meaning of Section 9(a)(v)(xii) NAO, 199 read with serial No.2 of the schedule and punishable u/s 10 and schedule attached therewith.
“In view of the role of this accused Ms Maryam Nawaz, she is convicted and sentenced to Rigorous Imprisonment for seven years with fine of two million pounds under section u/s 9(a)(v)(xii) NAO, 1999/read with section 10 of NAO 1999 and simple imprisonment for one year under serial No.2 of the schedule. Both the sentences shall run concurrently.”
About Safdar, the judgement held, “The accused Muhammad Safdar had signed the trust deeds as a witness. He also aided, assisted, abetted, attempted and acted in conspiracy with the accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Safdar within the meaning of Section u/s 9(a)(v)(xii) NAO, 1999 read with section 10 of NAO 1999 and Serial No.2 of the schedule and he is convicted and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for one year u/s 9(a)(v)(xii) NAO, 1999 read with section 10 of NAO 1999 and one year under Serial No.2 of schedule attached with NAO,1999.”
The court decision further read: “Avenfield Apartments No.16, 16-a, 17 and 17-a stand forfeited by the federal government within the meaning of 10(a) of NAO, 1999.
“The above said accused shall be disqualified to contest election or to hold public office for a period of 10 years to be reckoned from the date they are released after serving the sentence and they shall not be allowed to apply for or to be granted or allowed any financial facilities in the form of loan etc for a period of 10 years from the date of their conviction within the meaning of section 15 of NAO, 1999.”
About Nawaz Sharif’s sons, the court held, “Two accused namely Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz are absconding, therefore, they are declared as proclaimed offenders. Non-billable perpetual warrants arrest shall be issued against them.”
Case history
The corruption controversy erupted with the publication in 2016 of 11.5 million secret documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca documenting the offshore dealings of many of the world's rich and powerful.
Three of Sharif's four children – Maryam, his presumptive political heir, and his sons Hasan and Hussein – were implicated in the papers as owners of the London properties.
Seizing on the Panama leaks, PTI chief Imran Khan started a campaign demanding questioning the Sharifs over their massive wealth.
The Supreme Court agreed to investigate the Sharif family's finances after Khan threatened street demonstrations.
In July last year, the apex court disqualified Nawaz as a parliamentarian and ordered NAB to launch corruption cases against him and his family.
The former premier appeared before the NAB court for the first time on September 26, 2017, and Maryam on October 9. On October 26, the accountability court issued bailable arrest warrants for Sharif over his frequent absence from the court.
The court indicted Nawaz Sharif on September 26, 2017, and Maryam and Safdar on October 19, 2017 in the Avenfield case.
As against the SC-prescribed time of six months for all the references, the accountability court took nine months and 20 days to decide the first case and reserved the judgment in the Avenfield case on July 3.
The verdict came after 117 hearings in which Sharif appeared for 78 times, Maryam for 80 times and Safdar for 92 times.
CONVICTEd in absentia
| NAB court sentences Nawaz to 10, Maryam to 7 years in jail; imposes millions in fine | Orders
govt to confiscate Avenfield flats | Ex-PM caught for beyond-means assets, exonerated from corruption charges | Safdar handed one-year prison for helping wife in forgery | Perpetual
arrest warrants issued for Hasan, Hussain
NOKHAIZ SAHI/agencies
