Nawaz Shareef and his Daughter Maryam Nawaz returning to Pakistan for surrender
Former prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were arrested by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials upon their arrival to Pakistan in Lahore, and subsequently whisked to Islamabad on a chartered flight.
Nawaz and Maryam had been convicted by an accountability court in the Avenfield corruption reference last Friday and handed jail sentences of 10 years and 7 years, respectively. The former was found guilty of owning assets beyond known income, while his daughter was convicted for aiding and abetting her father in covering up a "conspiracy".
After the verdict was announced, Nawaz and Maryam had said they would return to Pakistan and appeal against the decision.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Punjab governments had made arrangements to take the father-daughter duo into custody upon arrival and shift them to Adiala Jail, where they are supposed to serve their jail term.
PML-N workers rally in support
In Lahore, authorities had braced to maintain law and order as thousands of PML-N workers and supporters had gathered at various points in the city to welcome the ousted prime minister and his daughter.
Large parts of the city were locked down as the state seemed determined to prevent supporters from reaching the airport.
PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, whose caravan had gathered at Lohari Gate, had led the main welcoming rally to the airport to accord his brother and PML-N supremo Nawaz a warm welcome.
When Nawaz and Maryam were flown out, he was en route to the airport. PML-N workers who were part of the rally were chanting slogans of "Rok sako tau rok lo (stop us if you can)" and "Vote ko izzat do (respect the vote)".
According to media reports, no PML-N supporters were allowed onto airport premises.
'Not afraid of being arrested'
While waiting at the Abu Dhabi airport for his flight home, Nawaz spoke to reporters from various news organisations over the phone.
During the call, Nawaz wondered how a flight "that is never late" had been delayed today and urged people to "think about who delayed this flight and why."
When asked if he believes that returning to Pakistan in the current "tense" situation was a good idea, Nawaz said that he knows "what the situation in the country is like".
"I know I have been handed a 10-year sentence and Maryam has been given seven years in jail, but we are returning because this country's fate needs to change — we need to change it.
"The media also needs be brave and take a stand in the face of it all," Nawaz said, adding that the media's freedom is being curbed today because "they see that this nation has risen and the media is rising and they are afraid. Why else would they do all this?"
"What is happening in this country today, what is happening in Lahore, raises questions regarding the elections. No other province is facing the situation we see in Lahore: hundreds of our party workers have been arrested; people are being pressured into switching loyalties. All of this forms a question mark on the credibility of the election," Nawaz said.
"I am not afraid of being arrested. If I was, why would I be coming back? It does not matter if NAB or the people who have sent NAB personnel arrest me from here [Abu Dhabi] or from Lahore. I am ready for it," Nawaz said.
"The country is at a critical juncture right now," Nawaz said in the recording. "I have done what I could. I am aware that I have been sentenced to 10 years [in prison] and I will be taken to a jail cell straight away — but I want the Pakistani nation to know that I am doing this for you."
Security ramped up
Cellphone services have been partially suspended in certain parts of Lahore, and as many as 2,000 Rangers personnel have been deployed at and around Lahore Airport where ─ according to sources ─ the Interior Ministry, in a meeting two days ago, had decided to contain Nawaz and Maryam.
Heavy contingents of police have been deployed at all entry points to the city, and containers have been readied to block off main roads.
A police official claimed that the arrangements were made to avoid any terrorism-related incidents, and that no orders had been passed to arrest political workers or to block the motorway.
Punjab Home Department sources earlier told Dawn that anyone holding a rally would have to seek prior permission from the deputy commissioner as per the Election Commission of Pakistan Code of Conduct, but so far no one has sought any permission in Lahore.
The sources had said that authorities would not allow any processions to go to the airport. Multiple blockades have been set up on roads across the city.
Three helicopters and the Punjab Chief Minister Prof Hassan Askari's airplane have been placed at NAB's disposal in the eventuality that Nawaz and Maryam will need to be transported to Rawalpindi.
Sentenced for corruption
The two PML-N leaders are returning to Pakistan to face a prison sentence handed out on July 6 by an accountability court in the Avenfield reference case, in which the judge ruled that Nawaz, Maryam and her husband Captain Safdar own assets beyond known income. They were respectively handed jail sentences of 10, seven and one year each.
The father-daughter duo was also fined £8 million and £2 million respectively. The money will go into the state treasury.
All three of them have also been disqualified from running for public office.
The Avenfield reference ─ which was related to the purchase of four flats in Avenfield House, Park Lane, London ─ was among the three corruption references filed by NAB against the former premier and his children on the Supreme Court's orders in its [landmark July 28 Panama gate verdict.
Besides Nawaz, Maryam and her husband Captain Safdar, NAB had also nominated Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz — Sharif's sons — as accused in all three SC-ordered corruption references.
Though the Sharif family insisted that they had purchased the apartments through ‘legitimate’ financial resources they remained unable to disclose those resources before the accountability court or the Supreme Court.
One day after the sentence was announced, NAB obtained arrest warrants for Nawaz, Maryam and Safdar. Safdar, who was in Pakistan at the time offered his [arrest to NAB officials in Rawalpindi] [8] on July 8.
Nawaz and Maryam were in London when the verdict was announced, as they have been with the ailing Kulsoom Nawaz who was diagnosed with cancer last year and is reportedly comatose. They announced that they would return to Pakistan to appeal against the sentence after the verdict was issued.
A day before the verdict was announced, Nawaz and Maryam had [appealed to the accountability court] [9] to postpone the announcement of the verdict for a week citing Begum Kulsoom's health as the reason for seeking the delay. The appeal was turned down.
Addressing a party conference in London with Maryam by his side before his return, Nawaz said he had decided to return to the country to fulfil his pledge to 'honor the vote', "despite seeing the bars of prison in front of my eyes".
"Is there any Pakistani who has had three generations of his family go through an accountability process only to find out that no corruption was ever done?" he asked during the presser that was broadcast live on Facebook.
Nawaz also criticized the court's decision to sentence his daughter to a seven-year term in jail, saying those who did so "did not even remember in their hate what stature daughters have in Pakistan".