ISLAMABAD (AFP) – A Pakistan court granted bail yesterday to exiled former prime minister and graft convict Nawaz Sharif, removing the threat of arrest when he returns to the country this weekend, his lawyer said.
After nearly four years in self-imposed medical exile in the United Kingdom (UK), Sharif is hoping to lead his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party through elections scheduled for January 2024.
The court’s decision allows him to return to his heartland of Lahore on Saturday for a welcome home rally, while his primary opponent Imran Khan languishes in jail.
“The honourable Islamabad High Court has granted Nawaz Sharif protective bail until October 24,” his lawyer Amjad Pervaiz told AFP.
Sharif has been prime minister three times but was ousted in 2017 and given a lifetime disqualification from politics after being convicted of corruption.
He served less than one year of a seven-year sentence before being granted permission to seek medical care in the UK, ignoring court orders to return during former prime minister Imran Khan’s government.
His brother Shehbaz Sharif came to power last year and his government oversaw changes to the law, including limiting the disqualification of lawmakers from contesting elections to five years.
Nawas Sharif has served three terms – but did not complete any of them, with the first two from 1990 to 1993 when he was sacked for corruption, and from 1997 to 1999, when he was deposed by the powerful military.
