Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been sentenced to 10 years in prison over corruption charges. Islamabad Anti-Corruption Court announced the verdict on Friday.
His daughter Mariam Nawaz was also found guilty and is facing seven years in prison. In addition, they were fined 8 and 2 million pounds sterling correspondingly. The court postponed the verdict announcement several times during the day. Judge Muhammad Bashir announced it only at 16:20 local time (14:20 Moscow time).
Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Mariam are currently staying in London, where the wife of the former prime minister, Kulsoom, is receiving treatment.
On July 28, 2017, Sharif, who was elected prime minister for the third time in 2013 (earlier, he had occupied this post in 1990-1993 and in 1997-1999), was declared “no longer fit for office” by the Supreme Court and stepped down. Charges against Sharif were brought after some media outlets had published information from the so-called Panama Papers in the spring of 2016.