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A Pakistani Prime Minister ousted Nawaz Sharif supporter carries a party flag in Rawalpindi on July 29, 2017. (Aamir Qureishi / AFP / Getty Images)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was convicted of corruption on Friday and sentenced to 10 years in prison, except for his political career and throw his party without a leader in chaos less than three weeks before the national elections.
Sharif's adult daughter Maryam Nawaz was also found guilty in the same case. illicit financing of family real estate abroad and for a period of seven years. The two members of the main Pakistani political dynasty are in London, but they promised to come back and fight for justice.
"I promise to continue this fight until the Pakistanis are released from the chains that they hold to tell the truth." And "free from slavery imposed by some generals and judges "Sharif, 68, said at a press conference in London on Friday night. He said that if the prison is the punishment for "demanding the respect of the vote, I will face it".
[The mighty House of Sharif is fighting for its life]
The ruling of the National Court of Accountability was the latest in a series of blows to Sharif. popular leader and prime minister three times. In April of last year, he was ousted from the post of prime minister and barred from holding political office by the Pakistan Supreme Court, after political opponents heard accusations that he and his family had illegally hid their wealth in commercial transactions abroad. On Friday, Sharif's Pakistan-N Islamist party, which has no other charismatic leader, will struggle to gain enough seats in parliament to form a government and will likely find itself in a weak coalition, facing Challenges
The accountability case arose out of the initial allegations of Supreme Court corruption that the Sharif family had hidden their wealth in foreign property, particularly in apartments in London. On Friday, the court also sentenced Maryam Nawaz 's husband, Muhammad Safdar, to a one – year term for failing to cooperate with the authorities.
The court ruled that Sharif and her daughter had participated in four apartments called Avendale Flats upscale. London district. The family insisted that the apartments had been purchased through legitimate financial resources, but prosecutors said they had been unable or unwilling to produce evidence of these claims. Sharifs are rich industrialists worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Shortly after the ruling, Shabbaz Sharif, Sharif's younger brother, who is the prime minister of Punjab province, dismissed the verdict and declared that he. Speaking at a press conference in Lahore, he said Nawaz Sharif was planning to return home and not to "exile" him.
Nawaz Sharif and his daughter are in London since June, where his wife Kulsum remains hospitalized with a serious illness after several months. Maryam Nawaz, known for her fiery tweets and fierce loyalty to her father, tweeted Friday afternoon that "the real decision will be made on July 25" when Pakistanis go to the polls.
"We are faced with snakes hidden in the democratic system," tweeted Nawaz, hinting that unidentified enemies in the military, justice and bureaucracy had sought to destroy Sharif. "Remember the faces of the conspirators and pawns on July 25th."
Later in the day, however, the National Electoral Commission forbade him to run for parliament in July. Shabbaz Sharif is also running for a seat and has not been charged with any crime, but he is a much less dynamic leader than his older brother and is not expected to lead the party alone.
The main challenger of the Muslim League is Imran Khan, 66, the former cricket star and powerful speaker who heads a pro-justice popular party and who brought the initial allegations against Sharif to the high court. In recent months, many Muslim League candidates have defected, and Khan's party should take advantage of it.
Some analysts have said that if Nawaz Sharif returns quickly to court and faces a jail sentence, his party could have a sympathy vote. But others said that no matter what the former prime minister did, the latest decision dealt a fatal and fatal blow to his political career and his ability to rally public support
"He is in trouble. him, "Rais Rasul Bakhsh Rais, an analyst in Lahore, said that Sharif and his daughter had made a mistake in" opting for confrontation with the army and justice "after his ousting last year. , leading to "polarization and instability across the country. They are still in confrontational mode, and this will add to political instability. "
The Muslim League launched its election campaign on Thursday, taking out full-page ads with a populist manifesto that vowed to help the poor, create jobs, improve health care and access to water, and promote the rights of women and minorities.But the news of the coup, officially announced by Shabbaz Sharif, was swept away by the media coverage and fervent speculation about the court's decision and its likely impact on the upcoming elections The Muslim League-N has run the country three times with Nawaz Sharif as Prime Minister, but each time his term was interrupted by military intervention or other problems.
Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad contributed to this report
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