Pakistan: Life sentence of opposition member suspended
Hanif Abbasi was sentenced to life term for misusing 500 kilograms of ephedrine -- a medication and stimulant -- in 2018
By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - A Pakistani court on Thursday suspended life sentence handed down by a trial court to a key opposition member in a narcotics case in 2018, local media reported.
Hanif Abbasi -- a member of main opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) -- was sentenced to life term just a few days before general elections in July 2018, after being found guilty of misusing 500 kilograms (1,102 pounds) of ephedrine, a medication and stimulant, which he ordered for his pharmaceutical company in 2010.
A two-member bench of the Lahore High Court headed by Justice Aalia Neelam suspended the jail term and ordered Abbasi's release, local broadcaster Geo News reported.
Abbasi -- a two-time parliamentarian from garrison city of Rawalpindi and owner of a local pharmaceutical company -- had been allotted a quota of 500 kg of ephedrine, a limit fixed by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), for making of medicines in 2010.
Anti-Narcotics Force had lodged a case against Abbasi and nine others accusing them of selling the allotted ephedrine to drug smugglers. All other accused except for Abbasi were acquitted by an anti-narcotics court.
Abbasi challenged the conviction in the Lahore High Court contending that he was being penalized for his political affiliation.
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