LAHORE: Three-time former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif was moved to the Kot Lakhpat Jail on Tuesday to begin his seven-year jail term in the high-security zone of the prison.
The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) supremo was awarded the sentence on charges of corruption and for setting up a steel mill in Saudi Arabia where he and his family had been residing in exile after being removed from office in a bloodless military coup.
Sharif was taken into custody on Monday evening after an accountability court’s judge announced the verdict. He was, however, acquitted in another corruption case filed against him in the same court
It is the second conviction handed down to Sharif in the past six months after he was sentenced to 10 years in jail in the Avenfield London flats corruption case.
His daughter, Maryam Nawaz, was also jailed for seven years in the same case while his son-in-law, Safdar Awan, was jailed for one year. The two are out on bail after the Islamabad High Court ordered their release after suspending the conviction.
Meanwhile, top PML-N leaders termed the convictions as a politically-motivated move to oust Sharif out of the active political arena.
“It is another dark decision against the politicians of Pakistan that will neither be endorsed by the masses nor history. The politicians are being victimized for the last 70 years. The PML-N is avoiding the politics of aggression for the longevity of the parliament and democracy but the system cannot afford such practices anymore,” former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told Arab News.
Sharif spent the night at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail and was flown to Lahore on Tuesday morning after the court accepted his request to be moved to Lahore due to his medical condition.
Sharif suffers from a heart condition and it was easier for his doctors and family members to meet him in Lahore.
“The conviction is baseless as the prosecution did not have any documentary evidence against Nawaz Sharif. They even did not produce a single witness against him (Nawaz). It is a politically motivated decision,” Raja Zafarul Haq, PML-N Chairman, told Arab News.
Sharif has been moved to a high-security zone where he has been given a separate room with a small garden attached.
The Punjab government also approved a request for a ‘better class’ in jail for Sharif making him eligible to get a mattress, a study table and chair, a TV set, and access to newspapers during his stay.
The aircraft which flew in the former premier landed at Lahore airport in the early hours of the day where a special team of law enforcement agencies took him to the Kot Lakhpat Jail amid tight security.
A number of PML-N workers gathered at the PECO Railway Crossing, enroute to the jail, and chanted slogans in favor of their leader.
PML-N legislators and party workers also celebrated Sharif’s birthday on December 25 before leaving the venue.
Jail sources, requesting anonymity, told Arab News that Sharif was taken to a hospital on the premises after being registered as a prisoner. The jail doctor conducted his medical examination before pronouncing him completely fit.
Sharif’s younger brother and PML-N president, Shehbaz Sharif, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, is also behind bars in the same facility.
Authorities have taken tight security measures by setting up a check post on the road leading to the prison where Sharif is lodged.
Nawaz Sharif reaches Lahore to serve jail term
Nawaz Sharif reaches Lahore to serve jail term
- Has been sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment in a corruption case
- Conviction is ‘politically-motivated’, ex-PM Abbasi tells Arab News
Pakistani business federation says EU envoy pledges support for training industrial workforce
- Support aims to boost competitiveness as Pakistan expands skilled labor for exports and remittances
- FPCCI says the country’s economic future hinges on preparing its workforce for modern technologies
ISLAMABAD: The European Union’s top diplomat in Pakistan has pledged support for the country’s push to train its industrial workforce, exporters and small businesses through the national technical and vocational education system, Pakistan’s top business federation said in a statement on Tuesday, calling the assistance critical for boosting competitiveness.
The commitment came during the first annual conference on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), jointly organized by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and the TVET Sector Support Program, where the EU envoy addressed business leaders and government officials.
“Pakistani industries, exporters, trade bodies and SMEs will be facilitated and supported in their training, and exporters should draw maximum benefit from the GSP+ program,” said EU Ambassador Raymonds Kroblis, according to the FPCCI statement, referring to the EU trade scheme that grants Pakistan preferential, duty-free access for most exports in return for implementing international conventions.
He added that Pakistan’s economic future depended on preparing its workforce for modern technologies.
FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh said Pakistan could “change its economic trajectory” through large-scale skills development and called for a sustained public–private partnership to modernize vocational training.
He said the federation would train 1,000 officials from chambers and trade bodies to strengthen workforce readiness.
Sheikh said Pakistan’s youth had “immense potential” and required structured opportunities to advance, both for domestic industry and for overseas employment.
Pakistan has been working to expand its pool of skilled workers to tap opportunities in Gulf economies, where higher-skilled migration could help lift remittances, a major stabilizing force for Pakistan’s economy.
Speakers at the conference said aligning Pakistan’s workforce with international standards was key to improving productivity, securing export growth and preparing workers for global labor markets.
