Sharif’s son-in-law arrested, gets bail with wife

Islamabad, Oct 9 (IANS) The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday arrested ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law as he arrived in Pakistan. He secured bail along with his wife Maryam Nawaz.

Captain Muhammad Safdar (retd), who was taken into custody upon his arrival from London, was granted bail by an accountability court in a case pertaining to the Sharif family's properties in London, reports Dawn news.

After appearing before the court here, Maryam told the media that her family was being tried despite already receiving the punishment -- the disqualification of her father Nawaz Sharif.

"These trials will last till the day of judgement unless something emerges in which he (Nawaz Sharif) or anyone from his family is caught," she said.

Maryam said the questions taken up the Supreme Court-mandated Joint Investigation Team regarding her family businesses continue to remain questions "because they are false allegations with no answers".

Asked when her brothers Hassan and Hussain Nawaz will appear before the court, Maryam said they would take their decisions themselves.

"My brothers live abroad... The laws of here (Pakistan) don't apply on them."

The court also heard arguments on an application filed by Nawaz Sharif seeking permanent exemption from appearance in the court as he had left for London to look after his ailing wife Kulsoom Nawaz, reports Dawn news.

Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir reserved his decision on the former Prime Minister's application.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court on July 28 had directed the NAB to file references against Nawaz Sharif and his children in six weeks in the accountability court and directed the trial court to decide the references within six months.

The former premier and his sons have been named in all three NAB references, while Maryam and husband Safdar were named in one.

On October 2, the accountability court issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Sharif's sons and Captain Safdar for failing to appear on previous hearings.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)