Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam were arrested on their arrival in Lahore on Friday night, after they were convicted in one of the three corruption cases running against them.
The Etihad Airways flight EY243 carrying Sharif, the supremo of the Pakistan Muslim League – (N) and Maryam landed at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal Airport at 9:15 pm IST, nearly three hours late from the scheduled arrival.
They arrived in Pakistan from Abu Dhabi where they had flown from London, to meet Sharif’s wife Kulsoom, who suffering from throat cancer, is battling for her life.
Detained within the flight, by personnel from the national National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Pakistan Rangers, the father-daughter duo were put on a special flight to Islamabad in order to move them in the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.
Sharif and Maryam’s passports were seized by a three-member FIA team, and both were permitted to meet Begum Shamim Akhtar, Sharif’s mother, who was at the airport to receive them.
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The 68-year-old Sharif and Maryam, 44, were sentenced to 10 and seven years of imprisonment in absentia for failing to provide any proof of their acquisition of four apartments in London.
They also have two more alleged cases of corruption in the accountability court — Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Flagship Investments — in which they are accused of money laundering, tax evasion and hiding offshore assets.
Reportedly, the flight they arrived in, was boarded by security personnels who asked the other passengers to get off the plane, before adressing Sharif and his daughter.
Around 10,000 police officers have been deployed across the city to maintain law and order. The Punjab government has also suspended mobile and internet services in Lahore.
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Supporters of the PLM-(N) party led its President and Sharif’s younger brother Shahbaz, joined from different parts of Lahore organising a rally on Friday despite the ongoing 144 curfew.
“We have orders from our top command not to take action against the PML(N) rally participants,” said a senior police officer to PTI.
Meanwhile speaking to the BBC shortly before he boarded the flight, Sharif said, “What credibility will these elections have when the government is taking such drastic action against our people and this crackdown is taking place all over the country?”
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He also spoke to the supporters in a video message, tweeted by Maryam. The three time premier urged his followers to stand with him and “change the fate of the country”.
“The country is at a critical juncture right now. I have done what I could. I am aware that I have been sentenced to 10 years (in prison) and I will be taken to a jail cell straight away. But I want the Pakistani nationals to know that I am doing this for you,” he said.
Two blasts went off just before the arrival of Sharif and his daughter in Pakistan, killing at least 90 people and injuring more than 180 others.