London considering request for Nawaz Sharif’s deportation: Shahzad Akbar

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Barrister Shahzad Akbar said on Tuesday that the British Home Department had responded to Pakistan’s request for the deportation of Nawaz Sharif.

Talking to The News, Barrister Akbar said that he had been told by the home department in London that it was considering Islamabad’s request. He said that nothing had been received from London in writing as yet but he was in contact with the authorities concerned.

The barrister said that he had written a letter recently on behalf of the Pakistan government seeking “deportation” of Nawaz Sharif so that he could serve his remaining jail term in the country.

The authorities here are of the view that Nawaz Sharif’s visit visa expires during this month. Nawaz’s deportation is being sought on the basis of his conviction and for the reason that he had gone to the UK for treatment for a few weeks following a court order.

According to Akbar, because of Nawaz Sharif’s conviction it is a fit case for deportation. He said the British authorities were told that they had been deporting convicted persons in the past and it could also be done in the case of Nawaz Sharif.

He said that Nawaz had initially gone on a six months visit visa which was extended for another six months because of the COVID-19 situation. The Barrister said there were rumours that Nawaz Sharif was applying for political asylum but there was no confirmation of such reports.

In a recent story, The News London correspondent Murtaza Ali Shah had reported that Akbar’s letter said that Home Secretary Priti Patel was “duty-bound” to deport Nawaz because he was temporarily released from prison in Pakistan and given permission to leave the country for eight weeks only. The letter informed Priti Patel, the Conservative MP and Home Secretary, that Nawaz had been “responsible for pillaging the state”.

Shahzad Akbar added in the letter: “I trust that you will be supportive of our efforts to bring those responsible for corruption to account.” Nawaz Sharif had gone to London for treatment in November last year after his condition had been considered critical by a board of doctors, constituted by the PTI government. His health improved amid his family and doctors’ claim that he had to undergo few surgeries that in the wake of COVID-19 were not possible.

According to Murtaza Shah’s report, Nawaz presently doesn’t have his full-time private doctor with him anymore but a private local doctor sees him every second day and Nawaz Sharif has secured a contract with a private clinic which offers round-the-clock medical emergency services on short notices.

Nawaz Sharif has been inactive politically for the initial 10 months of his stay in London. However, for the last several weeks he has not only become politically active but has also got aggressive in criticism of the Imran government and military establishment.

Following his last month speech in the APC of the Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDM) and continued attack on the military establishment in particular, the PTI government had decided to seek his deportation, which according to independent observers, was not an easy task.

The Islamabad High Court had already refused Nawaz’s extension for a stay in the UK, stating that he had failed to get admitted to hospital and failed to give adequate medical evidence that he was getting treatment.