Sharif to spend Eid in jail for second time in political career

For the second time in his political career, Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will celebrate Eid in a jail after a top court deferred the decision on a petition seeking his release.

The Islamabad High Court's judgement yesterday would mean that Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz and his son-in-law Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar will also celebrate Eid-ul Azha in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

However, Safdar was today rushed to a hospital after he fell sick in the jail.

Three corruption cases were filed against Sharif and his family last year following a decision by the Supreme Court on July 28 of the same year.

Sharif, 68, along with his daughter Maryam, 44 and son-in-law Safdar, 54, are serving jail terms of 10-years, seven years and one year respectively in the Adiala Jail after the accountability court convicted them on July 6 over the family's ownership of four luxury flats in London through illegal means.

Sharif yesterday appeared before the Islamabad-based High Court for hearing in the remaining Al-Azizia Steel Mills and the Hill Metal Establishment cases.

The three appealed in the Islamabad court against the conviction on July 16. They also petitioned for suspension of the sentence and immediate release.

A two-member bench after hearing the arguments in the petitions seeking their release and suspension of the sentence yesterday deferred the case and announced to take it up with the hearing of appeals against conviction.

Last week, it appeared due to the remarks of the judges during the proceedings that the court will give verdict in the petition seeking their release separately, raising hopes of Sharifs' release.

But yesterday the bench announced that decision on petitions will be deferred.

Now they will be heard with the appeals that are set to be heard next month and the bench directed the registrar to fix them immediately after the summer vacations of the courts ending on September 11, indicating that they will spend Eid in jail tomorrow.

It is for the second time that Sharif will celebrate Eid in jail.

Earlier, after the October 1999 coup, he was taken into custody and spent two Eids in detention when Gen Pervez Musharraf was ruler of the country.

Former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the first former prime minister who spent Eids in jail while being under arrest after the July 1977 coup.