Wild celebrations as Nawaz, Maryam set to be freed from jail

ISLAMABAD: The release of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and Captain (retd) Safdar from jail prompted celebrations among supporters waiting outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The IHC on Wednesday ordered the release of jailed ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, suspending the sentences they received from accountability court in July.

The Islamabad High Court suspended the 10-year sentence for Sharif and the seven-year term handed down to his daughter, Maryam, over corrupt practices linked to his family’s ownership of upscale London flats.

“Justice has been served and I congratulate Nawaz Sharif’s supporters,” former foreign minister Khawaja Asif, a staunch Sharif ally, said outside the courtroom where Sharif’s supporters were seen celebrating wildly.

The Sharifs’ convictions are still under appeal with the same Islamabad High Court, but a judge on Wednesday ruled they should be freed immediately while the case continues.

Three-time prime minister Sharif was ousted and disqualified from holding office by the Supreme Court in July 2017 and jailed earlier this year in absentia. He was arrested on July 13 upon returning from London, where his wife was receiving treatment before her death this month.

Sharif has repeatedly called the cases against him politically motivated.