Sharif denied assistant, told to maintain jail room himself

Lahore, Jan 3 (IANS) Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, lodged in the city's Kot Lakhpat Jail, has been denied an orderly and told to clean his prison room himself.

The Punjab province government on Wednesday said it could not provide a prisoner to the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader who could serve as his "orderly" and that he would have to maintain his room on his own, Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday.

Inspector General of Prisons Shahid Saleem Beg said that Sharif was asked to maintain his room to serve the seven-year "rigorous" imprisonment handed down to him in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills/Hill Metal Establishment corruption on December 24.

The National Accountability Bureau, Pakistan's anti-corruption body, while sentencing Sharif had ruled that Al-Azizia Steel Mills -- a Saudi Arabian firm carrying the name of his son -- belonged to the former Prime Minister, who was unable to demonstrate how the project was funded.

The three-time Premier was provided with a "B-class" room in the Kot Lakhpat Jail with a TV set, bed, blanket, heater, a chair and table. The prisons chief said Sharif's case was highly sensitive due to which he was not allowed to go outside his barracks in the prison.

He said Sharif's "rigour had been kept within his barracks". However, he later clarified to Dawn that Sharif had not been put to any rigour and that they were sensitive to how Sharif was treated because the country's reputation was at stake.