Returning to Pak 'whether I'm taken to prison or gallows': Sharif

A defiant former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has declared that he was leaving behind his ailing wife here in Allah's protection and returning to Pakistan regardless of whether he was "taken to prison or gallows".

Sharif, who is in London to tend to his ailing wife Kulsoom, is expected to return to Pakistan tomorrow, days after being sentenced to 11 years in prison by an anti-corruption court in the Avenfield properties case, one of the three corruption cases against him following the Panama Papers scandal.

Addressing a news conference alongwith his daughter Maryam Nawaz yesteday, the supremo of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party said that he wished to see his wife opening her eyes again, requesting the nation to pray for her speedy recovery.

He said that he was returning "despite seeing a prison cell in front of him" and was saddened that he was leaving his wife behind on ventilator.

"I am returning to fulfill the promise of giving respect to vote," the 68-year-old three-time premier said.

Sharif said he would not stop now regardless of whether he was "taken to prison or gallows."
"It had to be written in the verdict that no evidence of corruption could be found against me," he said. "Is there any Pakistani whose three generations had to face such sort of accountability?"
Sharif said the Pakistani people once again saw the "real face" of justice. "Having searched in several countries of the world, it had to be written that there was no evidence of corruption [against me]."