Nawaz Sharif shifted to Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore

=Lahore: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was shifted to the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore on Tuesday under strict security measures after spending a night in the Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail following the accountability court’s verdict in the Al-Azizia reference sentencing him to seven years in prison. According to a notification issued by the interior ministry, the Punjab government has allowed a Better Class cell in prison for him after he submitted an application requesting for it. The notification further stated that he would be entitled to avail the options including books, newspapers, a 21-inch television, a table and a chair and a table lamp, a mattress, personal bedding and clothing and food. The leader of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) was taken into custody on Monday as an accountability court sentenced him to seven-year jail term and $25million and Rs1.5 billion as fine in Al-Azizia Steel Mill reference. The convicted was initially taken to Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail where he spent a night and afterwards, he was flown to Lahore in a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight (PK-615) from Islamabad International Airport. Nawaz Sharif landed in Punjab’s provincial capital and the team of National Accountability Bureau directly moved him to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail. Meanwhile, his supporters gathered and cut a cake to celebrate his birthday outside the prison. Yesterday, shortly after the pronouncement of verdict in corruption references, Sharif’s legal counsel Khawaja Haris pleaded the accountability court judge Arshad Malik to shift the convict from Adiala to Lahore jail, since his family resides in Lahore. The judge accepted the plea and directed that Sharif be moved to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail. A day earlier, an accountability court announced the verdict in two National Accountability Bureau’s references namely Al-Azizia Steel Mill and Flagship Investment and punished Nawaz Sharif to seven years in prison and ordered him to pay $25million and Rs1.5 billion as fine. However, he was acquitted of all charges in the Flagship Investment case. The court has also ordered seizure of all property owned by Mian Nawaz Sharif.