The Lahore Supreme Court granted bail to former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, convicted of corruption, on health ground Friday, according to media reports
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th October, 2019) The Lahore Supreme Court granted bail to former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, convicted of corruption, on health ground Friday, according to media reports.Sharif, serving a seven-year prison sentence, was admitted to a hospital on Monday reportedly suffering from a blood disease. His brother Shahbaz Sharif filed a motion for his release, according to Pakistani newspaper Dawn.
Sharif and his family members were arrested in July 2018 after the publication of the so-called Panama papers. They were found guilty of corruption related to the investment of undeclared funds in the Al-Aziza steel mill in Saudi Arabia. The ex-prime minister of Pakistan and his supporters consider the case politically motivated.
Last December, the Anti-Corruption Court of Islamabad sentenced Sharif to seven years in prison, and imposed a $ 2.5 million fine. In February, the defense filed a motion for the release of the former head of government for medical reasons. The court refused, but Sharif appealed to the Supreme Court of the republic. As a result, the judge released Sharif for a period of six weeks so that he could receive treatment for heart disease. He was forbidden to leave Pakistan.
Sharif served as prime minister of Pakistan three times: in 1990-1993, 1997-1999 and 2013-2017. In 2017, the Supreme Court removed him from his post, and in the summer of next year, the Pakistan Muslim League party he leads lost the parliamentary elections to the Justice Movement, led by former cricket player Imran Khan.
