ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is scheduled to hear former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s appeal today, Thursday, challenging his seven-year sentence in the Al-Azizia corruption reference, as the country’s accountability watchdog has urged the judiciary to increase his sentence in the case.
The Al-Azizia Steel Mills case became a high-profile corruption case that centered on allegations of financial irregularities and money laundering linked to the establishment of the facility in Saudi Arabia by Sharif and his family.
A local accountability court in the federal capital sentenced him to seven years in December 2018 and imposed a fine of £2.5 million in the case. The verdict also disqualified the ex-premier from holding any public office for 10 years and ordered him to forfeit all his properties.
Sharif was arrested from the court premises and remained in prison for about seven months before leaving for London in November 2019 for medical treatment after securing a bail from the court.
Sharif returned to Pakistan from the self-imposed exile nearly after four years in October and filed appeals against his convictions in two separate corruption references, Al-Azizia and Avenfield. The IHC acquitted the former prime minister in the Avenfield reference last month.
A divisional bench of IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq is scheduled to take up Sharif’s appeal in Al-Azizia reference today seeking to overturn his conviction in the case.
During the ex-premier’s last court appearance in November, one of his party leaders and former law minister, Azam Nazir Tarar, sought exemption for him from personal appearance.
“There are security issues at every hearing,” he said.
The court asked Sharif’s legal team to file an application for exemption while promising to look into the issue.
Meanwhile, the National Accountability Bureau that had filed corruption references against the ex-premier was requesting the court through an appeal to enhance Sharif’s sentence in Al-Azizia reference as awarded by the accountability court in December 2018.
Counsels from both the sides will present their arguments before the court today to plead their case.
Pakistani court to take up ex-PM Sharif’s appeal against conviction in case today
https://arab.news/g4f7w
Pakistani court to take up ex-PM Sharif’s appeal against conviction in case today
- Sharif was given seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia corruption case in December 2018
- Pakistan’s accountability watchdog has urged the court to enhance Sharif’s sentence in the case
OIC’s COMSTECH stresses academic collaborations across Muslim world in Islamabad meeting
- COMSTECH holds annual meeting in Islamabad featuring 30 delegates from Iran, Somalia, Palestine, Indonesia and other OIC states
- Limited pool of skilled professionals one of the foremost challenges facing Muslim world, notes COMSTECH secretary general
ISLAMABAD: The OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) called for stronger academic collaboration across Islamic states to secure the future of higher education in the Muslim world, state-run media reported on Saturday.
COMSTECH’s Coordinator General Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary was speaking at the Annual Meeting of the COMSTECH Consortium of Excellence at the organization’s Secretariat in Islamabad. The event brought together vice chancellors, rectors, and senior representatives from leading universities across OIC member and observer states.
Nearly 30 international delegates representing universities from Iran, Somalia, Palestine, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Bangladesh, Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal joined their counterparts from several Pakistani institutions at the meeting. Participants attempted to chart a collective path forward for tertiary education in OIC countries.
“Collaborations, knowledge sharing, best practices, exchange of scholars, technology transfer and joint academic programs are vital for overcoming the educational challenges faced across the OIC region,” Choudhary said, according to the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).
The COMSTECH secretary general noted that one of the foremost developmental challenges facing OIC nations remains the limited pool of skilled professionals and workforce.
He said this gap can only be bridged through strengthened tertiary education systems and expanded opportunities for knowledge transfer.
Discussions at the event highlighted the urgent need for competency-driven education, modern pedagogical tools, university–industry partnerships and collaborative training programs designed to equip graduates with the skills necessary to address emerging global challenges.
“The Annual Meeting served as a vital platform for reviewing progress achieved over the past year, identifying future priorities, and deepening academic cooperation to promote scientific excellence and sustainable development across the OIC region,” the APP said.
