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Nawaz Sharif resigned in July after the Supreme Court disqualified him
A Pakistani court is scheduled to rule Friday in a corruption case against ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter the owned by luxurious London properties that could see the former jailed leader when he is found guilty.
The decision, expected a few weeks before the country goes to the polls on July 25, is expected at a time of escalating allegations of military interference in politics and the media claim that the press is muzzled .
Sharif has a history of disagreements with the military, which has ruled the nuclear-armed country for nearly half of its history, and sacked it in 1999 by a coup d'etat. 19659004] Sharif, who denies wrongdoing, on Wednesday urged the courts to delay judgment while he is in London, taking care of his wife, who is being treated for cancer.
In July 2017, Sharif argued that the military establishment, aided by the best members of the judiciary, uses a series of cases against him and other members of his party to make tip the scales in favor of the cricketer turned politician Imran Khan.
The lawsuit focuses on high-end London apartments that the Sharifs claim to have purchased by legitimate means. But the National Accountability Bureau claimed that the family had not been able to explain how he had paid them.
Sharif, 67, resigned in July after the Supreme Court disqualified him from office, but the veteran leader maintains his grip on the ruling Pakistan Muslim-Nawaz League (PML-N).
Khan runs on a socially conservative, anti-corruption platform. He denies complicity with the military establishment and salutes disqualifications and lawsuits against PML-N figures as a crackdown on corruption.
Last month, former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was prevented from running for office. commission. Daniyal Aziz, a former privatization minister who was disqualified from political power for five years, told Reuters: "The history of Pakistan in terms of using state institutions to manage political processes is well known". ] "The hope and the prayer were that we had gone beyond that, and the facts are before you."
PML-N officials also accuse the military of using their muscles to twist the arm of the media, such as silent TV channels the Sharif and its allies if they criticize the judiciary or the government. 39; army. Newspapers also omitted Sharif's comments on these topics.
Sharif's youngest brother Shehbaz Sharif, who took over the leadership of the PML-N, said on Thursday that the recent actions of the anti-corruption body cast doubt on the electoral process. 19659004] "All political parties must have a level playing field," he tweeted.
© Thomson Reuters 2018
(Except title, this story was not published by NDTV a syndicated feed.)
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