Published 18:35 IST, August 14th 2018
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and daughter Maryam arrested in Lahore. Full details here
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were on Friday night arrested at Lahore Airport in the Avenfield Reference case shortly after their flight landed in Pakistan.Â
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9:11 PM: Maryam Nawaz issued a statement stating that she would not be opting for better facilities.
12:40 AM: 13 doctors from Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (PIMS) at Adiala jail for medical examination.
12:25 AM: Regional Police officer of Rawalpindi and Magistrate reach Adiala jail
12:20 AM: Nawaz Sharif and Daughter Maryam reaches Adiala jail for medical examination
Updates above this are from Saturday
11:50 PM: Nawaz Sharif and Daughter Maryam Nawaz to be incarcerated at the Sihala Police Training College Rest House, Islamabad: Chief Commissioner of Islamabad Capital Territory
10:54 PM: NAB lawyer Sardar Muzzfar Abbasi will be heading the NAB team
10:43 PM: Nawaz and daughter to be kept separately in Adiala Jail. Surrounding areas near the jail completely secured.
10:42 PM: Shehbaz Sharif along with party supporters continue to rally in Lahore
10:32 PM: Heavy security deployment at Adiala Jail. Signal jammers have also been deployed ahead of the Sharifs' arrival
10:17 PM: Nawaz Sharif will be flown either to Rawalpindi or Islamabad, following which he will be taken to Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail
10:09 PM: As Nawaz Sharif's supporters gather in huge numbers outside the Airport, mobile phone services are shut off in Lahore
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were on Friday night arrested at Lahore Airport in the Avenfield Reference case shortly after their flight landed in Pakistan.
Sharif and his daughter were expected to arrive in Lahore in the evening following their halt at Abu Dhabi, but it was only after a 90-minute delay that the Emirates flight landed. A 16-member-team of Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was awaiting them at the airport. After clearing immigration and passport control, the duo's passports were seized and they were taken into custody. Helicopters were on standby to fly them to Islamabad. Nawaz Sharif's mother Begum Shamim Akhtar his brother Shehbaz Sharif's son Salman were allowed to enter the Lahore airport shortly after the flight landed.
The arrests followed a tense day in Pakistan as Pakistan Muslim League(Nawaz) (PML-N) supporters clashed with locals forcing the police to retaliate with batons and tear gas. Five policemen were injured in clashes after the supporters decided to march to the Lahore Airport ahead of the arrest.
READ | Bomb Blast targeting Politician in Pakistan's Quetta kills 70 on day of Nawaz Sharif's expected arrest
Over 10,000 policemen had been mobilised ahead of the Sharifs' arrival and had blocked key roads with shipping containers in an attempt to shut down the city.
Earlier, talking to a Pakistani newspaper, Sharif had said that there was never a case against him and that the Panama paper scandal was purposely targeted against him to 'fix' Pakistani politics.
In light of constant civil-military discord that Pakistan saw under Sharif, he alleged that the military was conspiring against him and his party. On July 6, Sharif had been sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, and a fine of eight million pounds in the Avenfield Reference case.
The case pertains to the purchase of Avenfield apartments through offshore companies, the owner and beneficiary of which was Maryam Nawaz. She was sentenced to seven years jail and fined two million pounds by the Accountability Court.
Earlier, in April, Pakistan's Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif from holding public office for life after his conviction for corruption in the Panama Papers case. His fellow-party leader Shahid Abbasi had taken over as Prime Minister in the aftermath, though his reign was short as he too was required to step aside ahead of the July 25 General Elections in Pakistan.
22:11 IST, July 13th 2018