Pakistan's former leader Nawaz Sharif ordered released

Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s former prime minister, is to be freed from jail after a court in Islamabad suspended his 10-year sentence on corruption charges.

Sharif was imprisoned in July on charges of failing to disclose the source of his wealth, following a long-running case related to his family’s ownership of luxury properties in London.

But the Islamabad High Court ruled on Wednesday that Sharif should be allowed to walk free after granting him bail until his full appeal is heard.

His daughter Maryam Nawaz, who was jailed for seven years for abetment, and her husband Muhammad Safdar Awan, who received a one-year sentence for failing to co-operate with the court, will also be released.

As Wednesday’s judgment was handed down, Pakistan’s new prime minister Imran Khan was in Saudi Arabia, where he has been meeting King Salman and the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Officials in Mr Khan’s party said one reason for the trip was to negotiate a financial support package as Pakistan faces a shortage of foreign currency. Islamabad is seeking funding from a variety of sources after its foreign exchange reserves fell to $9.6bn, which was not enough to cover two months’ worth of imports.

Pakistan has long enjoyed close relations with Saudi Arabia, where Sharif fled when he went into exile in 2000 following a military coup.

The order for Sharif’s release is the latest dramatic twist in the so-called Avenfield case, which centred on the Sharif family’s ownership of four apartments in London’s exclusive Mayfair district.

Leaked documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca revealed in 2015 that Sharif’s children were linked to offshore companies, which were then used to buy assets such as the London apartments. The court ordered the flats be turned over to the Pakistani government.

The case has dominated Pakistani politics for years and appeared to have ended Sharif’s 30-year career at the top of Pakistani politics. Last year he was ousted as prime minister when a court ruled him not fit for office. Last July he was jailed just weeks before the country’s general election.

Throughout, members of Sharif’s inner circle have privately accused the country’s powerful army of a conspiracy to replace him with their favoured candidate, Mr Khan. Sharif frequently clashed with senior generals while in power.

Nawaz Sharif was allowed to leave prison temporarily last week to attend the funeral services for his wife © Reuters

Mr Khan won this summer’s election, defeating Sharif’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which is now being run by his brother Shehbaz Sharif.

Shehbaz Sharif welcomed Wednesday’s ruling by writing a tweet quoting from the Koran which read: “Truth has come, and falsehood has departed.”

The court’s judgment did not come in time to allow Nawaz Sharif to leave prison before the death of his wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, who died of cancer last week in London following a long illness.

Speaking about the suspension of Sharif’s sentence, one official in Mr Khan’s party said: “The case is still on trial and the parties involved can also proceed to the supreme court if needed.”

The official added: “I don't think this is a conclusive victory for Nawaz Sharif just yet; maybe he’s won the inning but the match continues.”

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