Pakistan court indicts Asif Ali Zardari, declares Nawaz Sharif absconder

An anti-graft court in Pakistan indicted former President Asif Ali Zardari and declared ex-premier Nawaz Sharif an absconder in corruption cases, the latest move in multiple legal proceedings against the political opponents of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

An accountability court judge, Syed Asghar Ali, framed charges against Zardari, the co-Chairman of opposition Pakistan Peoples Party for illegally accepting gifts from foreign rulers when he was the president from 2008 to 2013, a deputy prosecutor of National Accountability Bureau, said on phone. In the same case, Sharif was declared an absconder. Both the leaders are on bail in other corruption cases.

Sharif, who was the south Asian nation’s premier from 2013 to 2017 and was jailed in a corruption case in 2018, has been in London for the past about 9 months seeking medical treatment. The opposition parties accuse the government of premier Khan of persecution.

Sharif on Wednesday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court, stating that his health condition would not allow him to return home from London and surrender in a corruption case by September 10.