Pakistan: Former Premier Sharif staying on no-fly list

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

Pakistan’s government on Saturday rejected a request by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family to remove their names from a no-fly list, local media reported.

According to local Geo News, the Interior Ministry rejected the request by Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar to take their names off the Exit Control List.

Sharif, the former three-time premier, and his family members were placed on the list by Imran Khan's government last August on the recommendation of the country’s anti-corruption authority.

In October they petitioned the ministry to take their names off, arguing that they were not involved in any terrorism, corruption, or abuse of authority.

Sharif is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore, northeastern Pakistan, for corruption, following his Dec. 24 sentencing.

Last May, Sharif, 69, was also sentenced to 10 years in jail in a corruption case stemming from the Panama papers scandal, but the Islamabad High Court suspended the conviction in September.

His daughter and political heir Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law were also sentenced to seven years and one year in prison respectively in the same case, but are free on bail.

In September 2017, anti-corruption watchdog the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) accused Sharif of hiding assets in Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the name of his then-underage sons during his first two tenures as premier in the early 1990s.

That July, the three-time prime minister was disqualified from office by the Supreme Court over the Panama Papers scandal, which also led to the filing of three corruption cases. Not long after, the top court also barred him from holding his party's leadership.

Sharif served as premier from 1990 to 1992, 1997 to 1999, and 2013 to 2017, all three terms cut short from their full five years.