Sharif appears before accountability court in Islamabad

Ousted Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday appeared before the accountability court in corruption references against his family.

According to Dawn, Sharif was directly escorted by the heavy protocol to the court from the Islamabad Airport.

Sharif's daughter, Maryam Nawaz, and her husband, Captain (retired) Mohammad Safdar, are also present in the court.

On Friday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) summoned Sharif and Maryam Nawaz for allegedly misusing official protocol.

The court reportedly took a decision to summon Sharif and his daughter during the hearing of plea seeking to retract official protocol from the former prime minister and his family.

The petition was filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Andleeb Abbas.

Sharif, his sons Hasan and Hussain, daughter Maryam, son-in-law Capt (retd) Mohammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar are facing multiple corruption references in the accountability court.

The Pakistan Supreme Court had, on July 28, disqualified Sharif from holding the office of the prime minister and asked the National Accountability Bureau to file references against the Sharif family in connection with corruption cases against them.

The apex court also directed the trial court to decide the references within six months.

Last week, Sharif said that no decision of the court could separate him from the people of Pakistan.