Pakistan court orders release of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, daughter Mariam

A sigh of relief to the Sharif family, as a top Pakistani court suspended the jail sentences of former premier Nawaz Sharif, his daughter, and son-in-law in a corruption case and ordered their release.

The order comes about two months after he began a 10-year jail sentence over corruption. The case was registered by an anti-graft tribunal earlier this year.

The decision came during their appeal as they have denied wrongdoing.

The ruling comes after a week when Mr Sharif's wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, died from cancer in London. Owing to this cause the Sharifs were out on parole.

IHC was hearing the appeals filed by Sharifs and Capt Safdar against the judgment ordered by the accountability court on July 6. The courts has thus accepted their petitions and suspended their sentence. According to reports, PML-N members who were present in the court started cheering as the verdict was declared.

According to Sharif’s lawyer Khawaja Haris, “Today, the Islamabad High Court has suspended the verdict against Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and his son-in-law Captain Safdar and ordered to release them on bail until a final decision.”

Islamabad High Court judge Athar Minallah On Wednesday ruled that Pakistan’s anti-corruption watchdog the National Accountability Bureau, was failed to prove a financial link between the former prime minister and the apartments in question.

Justice Athar Minallah read the judgment and suspended the sentences handed to them by the accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir on July 6. Sharif, Maryam, and Safdar, were sentenced to 11 years, eight years and one year, in prison respectively, in connection with the Avenfield properties case.

Former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif was charged with corrupt practices in July related in connection with the ownership of four luxury properties in central London which also linked to his family. He, however, countered the charges by terming them as political motivated.

His daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, received seven years for abetting a crime and one year for not co-operating and son-in-law Safdar Awan was given a one-year sentence for not co-operating.

The conviction also blocked them from holding or seeking public office for up to 10 years after release.

Sharif was disqualified from office by the country's Supreme Court last year over corruption allegations and he also faces several court cases at home.