Nawaz’s appeal against Al-Azizia conviction to be heard today

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will hear an appeal filed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif against his conviction in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case today.

A two-member division bench comprising of Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani is scheduled to hear the appeal today.

Importantly, the same bench will hear an application submitted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for increasing Nawaz  Sharif’s jail term.

Nawaz Sharif was convicted by former accountability judge Arshad Malik in Al-Azizia case in December last year that stemmed from the Panama Papers scandal.

The former premier was jailed for seven years and fined Rs5 billion in the light of the verdict.

However, his daughter Maryam Nawaz released a video of the presiding judge, which showed he had acted under duress. However, the judge denied the charges in an affirmation issued in a denial to the presser.

Former judge Malik was suspended last month over the video leak controversy and later was appointed as an officer on special duty (OSD) at the Lahore Sessions Court.

Subsequently, the affidavit given after the release of the video of the judge was also made part of Sharif’s appeal.

On the other hand, the NAB had also requested the court to increase the sentence of Nawaz Sharif up to 14 years, saying that he had failed to give money trail even though he admitted to owning these assets.

The Supreme Court had disqualified Nawaz from holding any public office in July 2017 and ordered NAB to file three references against the Sharif family.