New Delhi: Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s sons, Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, returned to the country from the UK on Tuesday after six years of self-exile. Their return follows the suspension of their arrest warrants by an accountability court, which stems from their involvement in the Panama Papers scandal dating back to 2016. The two sons had left Pakistan in 2018 after they were named in the scandal. Subsequently, an accountability court declared them as proclaimed offenders in the Avenfield case and issued non-bailable perpetual arrest warrants against them.
The case revolves around the Sharif family’s ownership and acquisition of luxury apartments in London. Nawaz Sharif’s sons, Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, arrived in Pakistan from London on Tuesday and were escorted to their residence at Jati Umra in Lahore under tight security, as stated by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, reported PTI.
Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N supremo, resides at the Jati Umra residence along with his daughter, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. The residence has been designated as the Chief Minister House, necessitating a heavy police presence to ensure the security and protocol of both Maryam Nawaz and Nawaz Sharif.
Petitions Submitted To Suspend Warrants
Hussain and Hassan Nawaz, represented by their legal counsel, have petitioned an Islamabad accountability court to suspend the warrants issued against them in the Avenfield Apartments, Al-Azizia, and Flagship Investment cases. Their request was accepted, leading to the suspension of their arrest warrants until March 14 in the three corruption cases related to the Panama Papers scandal.
The brothers, who hold British nationality, were implicated in these cases in 2018 alongside their father Nawaz Sharif, sister Maryam Nawaz, and her husband Muhammad Safdar. While all other accused, including Nawaz Sharif, have been acquitted in these cases, the two brothers were still required to face the courts due to their absence during formal trial proceedings.
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Notably, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which had instituted these cases against them, has given them a clean chit.
In 2018, Nawaz Sharif, along with his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Safdar, was convicted in the Avenfield case, while Nawaz Sharif was also convicted in the Al-Azizia case but acquitted in the Flagship case. Subsequently, they appealed their convictions to the Islamabad High Court.
Maryam and Safdar were the first to receive relief in 2022 when they were acquitted, while Nawaz Sharif remained in London at the time. Since then, there has been a perception that the Sharif family and their party, the PML-N, have received preferential treatment from the current military establishment, resulting in the closure or acquittal of all cases against them.
In October last year, Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan after a four-year self-imposed exile in the UK and after brief proceedings, he was acquitted in all cases. His younger brother Shehbaz Sharif was elected as Pakistan’s prime minister for a second time after the PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a coalition government.
Maryam, the 50-year-old daughter of Nawaz Sharif, took oath as the first-ever woman chief minister of Pakistan’s most populous and politically crucial Punjab province on February 26.