Pakistan: Court issues arrest warrant for ex-PM Sharif

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - An accountability court on Thursday issued a bailable arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in two corruption cases, according to court records and local media reports.

Judge Mohammad Bashir issued the arrest warrant for the three-time former premier for continuous absence from the proceedings.

Sharif, who is presently in London where his wife is being treated for cancer, has already been indicted in three different corruption cases along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz, and her husband Muhammad Safdar.

The judge turned down Sharif's request for another seven-day exemption from the proceedings, and warned if the former premier did not appear on the next hearing, the court might issue a non-bailable arrest warrant. The court adjourned the hearing till November 3.

Sharif did not appear before the court as he was with his wife Kulsoom Nawaz, but he will attend the next hearing, Rana Sanaullah, Law Minister for Punjab province and leader of ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party told reporters.

The Sharif family has rejected the allegations and told the court that all corruption charges are based on lies.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan disqualified Sharif from office this July in the Panama Papers case. The court ruled that Sharif had acted in an untrustworthy manner by failing to declare a salary from his son’s Dubai-based company ahead of the 2013 general election.

The top court had ordered the country’s anti-corruption watchdog National Accountability Bureau to open several cases against him, his children, son-in-law and finance minister Ishaq Dar.

Sharif's British-national children -- Hassan and Hussain -- who are in London, have already been declared absconder in the cases. The party leaders say that they will not appear before the court to face the graft cases as Pakistan's law does not apply on them.

The court has already issued non-bailable warrants for both of Sharif’s sons for absence from the proceedings.

According to evidence submitted by the National Accountability Bureau, the Sharifs have four luxurious London apartments, two steel mills in Saudi Arabia and several offshore companies in the U.K.

Last April, the Panama Papers revealed that three of Sharif’s children owned offshore assets not shown on his family's wealth statement, including luxury apartments in London.