Former Pakistani Leader Nawaz Sharif Returns to Face Jail

(LAHORE, Pakistan) – Disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will be whisked away by helicopter to the federal capital of Islamabad when he returns Friday to Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore from London to face a 10-year prison sentence on corruption

Sharif, set to arrive at 6 pm, will be accompanied by his daughter Mariam, who was sentenced to seven years in prison. The two were in London visiting Sharif's ailing wife when a Pakistani court convicts them of corruption and sent them to prison.

Sharif's son-in-law is currently serving his one-year prison sentence on the same charge, which stems from the (19659005) Ahead of his return, police swept through Lahore, arresting the scores of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim

In a video message Friday reportedly from aboard his aircraft en route to Pakistan, Sharif said he was returning he would be taken directly to prison.

Sharif has Shahbaz Sharif now heads his Pakistani Muslim League and is fighting for re-election on July 25.

In a televised appeal to supporters from Londo n earlier this week, Sharif said he was not prisoner and asked to vote for his party. He also used the opportunity to again criticize Pakistan's powerful military, saying, "Pakistan has a state of the art."

During his term in office, Sharif

Pakistani and international rights groups in the grips of war crimes in the face of terrorism. The military denied the accusations of their assistance in carrying the elections was requested by Pakistan's Election Commission. The army will deploy 350,000 personal security to polling stations throughout the country on election day.