Corruption is Everywhere - Is Imran Khan Cleaning Up Pakistan, or Is It Politics as Usual?

Daughter of Pakistan’s jailed ex-PM & opposition leader Nawaz arrested

amid ongoing corruption probe

FILE PHOTO Maryam Nawaz Sharif © Global Look Press / ZUMAPRESS / PPI

Pakistan opposition leader Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of convicted ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) while visiting her father in prison.

A spokesman for Nawaz’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML) told Reuters that the politician had been detained in Lahore, but that the authorities have yet to explain the grounds of her arrest.

Nawaz was asked to appear on Thursday before the NAB to answer questions regarding a corruption probe. Her family is accused of embezzling millions of dollars from the government project. According to local reports, she ignored the request and was arrested while visiting her father, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in jail. Sharif is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for corruption. Nawaz herself was also convicted in a related corruption case, but her sentence was suspended.

Her arrest was sharply criticized by opposition figures.

Senator Sherry Rehman, parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), argued that Nawaz’s detention risks “disastrous polarisation” at home as the conflict with India over Kashmir continues to escalate.

Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, daughter of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, tweeted that Prime Minister Imran Khan and his “fascist, incompetent government” had targeted Nawaz as part of a “witch hunt” against the opposition.

In recent days, Nawaz had been involved in anti-government protests. Last month, she took part in nationwide rallies against Khan’s administration.

Her PML party has also led a series of public protests, alleging that Khan benefited from widespread vote-rigging in the 2018 election.

Ex-Pakistan PM Sharif gets 10 Years for Corruption, Panama Papers Involved

Corruption is Everywhere - at the highest levels

of the Pakistani government

By Sara Shayanian

Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister of Pakistan, was sentenced Friday to ten years in prison on corruption charges.

File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

UPI -- Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced Friday to ten years in prison on corruption charges.

Sharif, who is in London and was charged in absentia, was convicted with his daughter and son in-law.

Judge Mohammad Bashir sentenced Sharif for owning assets beyond income and for not co-operating with Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau.

Daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif received seven years for abetting a crime and one year for not co-operating. Son-in-law Safdar Awan was given a one-year sentence for not co-operating. The former prime minister and his daughter also received millions in fines.

Maryam Nawaz's sons, Hassan and Hussain, were declared "proclaimed offenders" and the court ordered non-bailable perpetual arrest warrants for their capture.

The Sharif family's Avenfield apartments, which had been in their possession since 1933, will be seized by Pakistan's government.

Sharif said the charges are politically motivated and has consistently denied wrongdoing. Friday, Nawaz said her father would return to Pakistan despite attempts being made to stop him.

"Nawaz Sharif is coming," she tweeted. "Today was the last attempt, as before, will be a failure."

Fall-out from the Panama Papers

Sharif resigned last year after a 15-month investigation into his family's wealth showed Sharif's children were linked to offshore banking companies in the 2015 release of confidential data known as the Panama Papers.

The papers revealed three of Sharif's adult children owned offshore companies and assets not listed on the family's government-ordered financial disclosure statement. The companies moved funds to acquire foreign assets, including London real estate.

In May, Sharif was disqualified from holding public office again by Pakistan's Supreme Court.