Pakistani court orders release of former premier Sharif

A Pakistani high court on Wednesday suspended the jail terms handed to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter, and son-in law in a corruption case.

A two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court comprising Justice Athar Minallah, and Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurungzeb ordered the release of Sharif, his daughter and political heir Maryam Nawaz, and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar on bail against a surety bond of Rs 500,000 ($4500) each.

However, the hearing of Sharif's appeal against his conviction will continue. Sharif is also facing another two cases stemmed from whistle-blower Panama Papers in 2016, which, he claims, had been “cooked up” and were aimed at ousting him and his party from politics.

The three-time premier was sentenced to 10 years in jail in a corruption case by an accountability court Islamabad in May this year, which saw an outcry of “injustice” by his party supporters.

The three had all been found guilty of buying four apartments at Avenfield House in London’s posh Park Lane area in 1993 allegedly through illegal means.

Sharif had challenged the verdict in the Islamabad High Court.

Sharif's supporters, who were present outside the court in high numbers, raised slogans in his favor and danced to celebrate the verdict, which the analysts see as a " big relief " and a " tonic" for the Sharif family.

"We are thankful to Almighty Allah. This is victory of justice. we congratulate the lovers of Sharif in all over the country", Khawaja Asif, former foreign minister and a senior leader of Sharif's right-wing Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), told reporters outside the court.

Last week, the country's National Accountability Bureau had approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay against hearing of Sharif's appeal by the Islamabad High Court. However, the top court rejected the accountability bureau's petition.

In July 2017, 68-year-old Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court over the Panama Papers scandal, which also led to the filing of three corruption cases. Not long after, the top court also barred him from holding the leadership of his party.

Nawaz Sharif, who served as the premier from 1990 to 1992, 1997 to 1999, and 2013 to 2017, could not complete even a single five-year term. His two previous governments were dismissed over corruption charges and through a bloodless military coup in 1992 and 1999, respectively.