Maryam refuses to shift to Sihala Rest House: report

Jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam has refused to shift to the Sihala Rest House, saying she would prefer staying at the high-security Adiala Jail with her father and husband, according to a media report.

Sharif, 68, and his daughter Maryam, 44, were arrested in Lahore on July 13 on their arrival from London after an accountability court found them guilty over his family's ownership of four luxury flats in London. They were later taken to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

Both Sharif and Maryam have been sentenced by the accountability court to 10 and 7 years in prison respectively for corruption charges linked to the Panama Papers scandal.

Maryam's husband Captain (retd) Safdar was sentenced to one year.

Earlier, the Islamabad chief commissioner said Sihala Rest House had been converted into a sub-jail in the suburbs of Islamabad.

The jail authorities wanted to shift the father-daughter duo to the rest house as the prison they are in lacks facilities for female prisoners, Geo News reported.

"Maryam has told the authorities that she would prefer to stay at the Adiala Jail with his husband and father," the report said.

On Monday, Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law filed an appeal in the Islamabad High Court against the verdict in one of the corruption cases and had sought their release on bail.

Nawaz and his sons Hussain and Hasan are accused in all three graft cases whereas Maryam and Safdar were accused in the Avenfield case only.

Earlier, media reports said that Safwat Lodge, commonly referred to as Sihala Rest House, located on the premises of Sihala Police College, had been cleaned and decorated with flowers, paintings and photographs.

A total of 2 million rupees have been spent by the authorities on the arrangements, the Geo report said yesterday.

This is the same lodge where former president and PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari had been detained when his party's government was dismissed in 1996. Other political leaders have also been detained in the rest house in the past.