ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s information minister told media on Friday that Islamabad has started the legal process to reach an extradition treaty with Britain that could pave the way for the UK to hand over former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in self-imposed exile in London.
Pakistan currently has no extradition treaty with Britain and there was no immediate comment from the UK on the development. The process will likely take years and could face stiff resistance in British parliament.
The development comes after a top Pakistani court earlier this month declared Sharif a fugitive from justice for failing to return home to face corruption charges.
Information Minister Shibli Faraz told The Associated Press that it was the responsibility of British authorities not to allow “convicted criminals like Sharif” to remain there. Sharif was sentenced to seven years in prison in a separate case, for corruption and money laundering in 2018.
“We are trying, we have tried and we will try” to bring Sharif back, Shibli said.
On Friday, in an interview with Samaa Television, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that his government had two options to bring Sharif back to the country: extradition and deportation. He said the government was trying for the latter option and that extradition was a very lengthy process.
The 70-year-old Sharif, who ruled the country three times as prime minister, fell from grace after the country’s Supreme Court ousted him from office over corruption allegations in 2017. Pakistani authorities in November 2019 temporarily released him on bail amid deteriorating health so that he could travel and seek medical treatment abroad.
At the time, another court permitted Sharif to leave the country for four weeks, with the option to extend the time abroad if he was not able to travel afterward.
Sharif’s bail later expired and authorities subsequently issued arrest warrants for him.
In 2018, Sharif was sentenced to seven years in prison for corruption and money laundering. That case was separate from the one pending against him. He has also appealed against his conviction and the Islamabad High Court will now decide how to handle the appeal in his absence.
On the same day, Friday, federal interior minister Sheikh Rasheed told reporters in Islamabad there was “no chance” of bringing Sharif back from London through extradition, in the absence of an extradition treaty between the two countries.
Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League party is currently holding nationwide rallies alongside major opposition parties, demanding Khan step down as Prime Minister.
