'Nawaz Sharif will be in Pakistani jail by Jan 15'

ISLAMABAD: Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz claimed on Friday that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be back in the country and be in a Pakistani jail by January 15.

“Nawaz Sharif would be in Kot Lakhpat Jail by January 15,” Information Minister Shibli Faraz said in a press conference here today. He said that Prime minister Imran Khan was determined to hold the “corrupt gang” accountable.

“They are expert in corruption and looted the nation’s wealth with impunity,” claimed Faraz. He added that those saying "vote ko izzat do [give respect to vote]”, a slogan used by PML-N, gave respect to money during their years in power.

‘Door not broken during Safdar’s arrest’

The federal minister also spoke about the CCTV footage of Captain Safdar’s arrest from a Karachi hotel, obtained by the media, saying that the broken door was not seen in it as claimed by the PML-N.

“As per the footage, Captain Safdar seemed comfortable in police custody,” said Faraz. “Their lies have now been exposed.”

The minister maintained that whatever happened in Sindh, the PPP government was responsible not the federal authorities.

“We [federal government] did not arrest Captain Safdar, Sindh Police arrested him,” said Faraz. He said that the opposition parties are not “sincere with each other” and playing politics.

The opposition and the federal government have been at logger heads since the Sindh police's top brass sought to proceed on leave en masse in protest against the "demoralising and shocking" treatment of the police chief in the events that led to the arrest of PML-N leader Captain Safdar.

Captain Safdar had landed in a controversy on Sunday when he raised PML-N’s slogan of “vote ko izzat do [give respect to vote]” while standing inside the innermost sanctum of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's mausoleum.

The act was decried by many as being disrespectful in the least, and violative of the laws protecting the sanctity of the Quaid-i-Azam's Mazar in the most — a crime which carries a maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment and/or a fine.

A case was subsequently filed against him and Maryam Nawaz for violating the sanctity of the mazar.

Captain Safdar was subsequently arrested from a hotel early in the morning on Monday and taken to Aziz Bhatti Police Station, where he was kept for hours before being released on bail.

The Sindh government had distanced itself from the registration of the case against the PML-N leader and the early morning arrest from a hotel room.