A Pakistani court on October 19 granted bail to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, blocking his arrest and thus allowing the former prime minister to return to the country from exile.
Image of Mr. Nawaz Sharì on the streets of Pakistan. Photo: AFP
Lawyer Azam Nazeer Tarar told reporters that the bail would prevent authorities from arresting Mr Sharif until he appears in court on October 24. He will return to Lahore on October 21, where a rally is expected to welcome him.
“It is a new beginning. His return will be a major development,” said Raja Muhammad Zafar-ul-Haq, chairman of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
Dubbed the "Lion of Punjab", Mr Sharif served three terms as the country's prime minister, starting in 1990. He was dismissed for corruption in 1993, returned to the post in 1997, and was ousted two years later in a military coup.
His final term ended in 2017, with the Supreme Court banning him from politics for life over bribery allegations, which he denied.
In 2018, he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to seven years in prison. But in 2019, a court allowed him to travel to London for medical treatment, where he chose to live in exile.
Mr Sharif is a rival of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Mr Khan is also currently in prison after being ousted by parliament last year and convicted of corruption earlier this year.
Trung Kien (according to AFP)
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