Sharif Returns to Pak to Face Charges in Panama Papers Scandal

He will appear before the accountability court on 26 September to defend himself in three corruption cases

Ex-Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. 

(Photo: Reuters)

Pakistan's ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned to the country from the UK on Monday to face corruption and money laundering charges in the Panama Papers scandal.

He was in London to be with his ailing wife Kulsoom, who is undergoing treatment for throat cancer.

Sharif, 67, decided to return after consultations with senior party leaders, including his younger brother and Punjab province Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in London, party officials said.

The aircraft carrying him landed in Islamabad at around 7:30 am, and a confident Sharif came out, waved to his supporters and left in official protocol, TV news reports showed.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) officials said that he would stay in Punjab House in Islamabad and hold meetings with party leaders on Monday and Tuesday.

“He (Sharif) would appear before the accountability court on Tuesday (26 September) to defend himself in three corruption cases”, an official said.

Sharif stepped down after the Supreme Court disqualified him on 28 July from continuing in his office for dishonesty, and ruled that corruption cases be filed against him and his children.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed three cases of corruption and money laundering against Sharif, his sons Hassan and Hussain, daughter Maryam, son-in-law Safdar, and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the Accountability Court in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, recently.

The anti-graft body last week froze the bank accounts and seized properties of Sharif and his family members to put pressure on them to appear before the court.

Sharif skipped a court hearing last week to defy the cases. His family has alleged that the cases are politically motivated.

Maryam said that Sharif was returning to face the cases for the sake of his people.

Kulsoom contested on Lahore's NA-120 seat that fell vacant in the wake of his disqualification and won.

Their children are still in London as he prepares to appear before the court in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The court has also summoned Maryam, Hussain, Hasan and Safdar but it was not immediately known if they would appear before the court on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, finance minister Dar, who also returned from London, appeared in an anti-corruption court on Monday.

The court had issued a bailable arrest warrant against him for failing to appear before it. Dar's lawyer had deposited surety bonds worth rupees one million to avoid his arrest.

The court, after a brief hearing, postponed the case of Dar till 27 September and asked him to appear again as he would be formally indicted by the prosecution in a corruption case for having assets beyond his known sources of income.