Judge Nasir Javed Rana, who heard the case, acquitted two persons in three cases. (representative)
Pakistan’s anti-corruption court on Tuesday acquitted two sons of Muslim League supremo Nawaz Sharif in three alleged corruption cases, all but ending legal troubles for the former prime minister’s family.
Hassan Nawaz and Hussein Nawaz are implicated in the 2018 Avenfield, Flagship and Al-Azizia corruption cases related to the Panama Papers.
In 2018, the two brothers were declared guilty of failing to participate in investigations into the Avenfield Apartment, Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment cases brought by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
However, their trial did not take place because they were abroad and their main defendant, father Sharif, was convicted in the Avenfield and Azizia corruption cases but was acquitted in the flagship case.
Sharif, a three-time former prime minister and chairman of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), returned to Pakistan from London in October last year after ending nearly four years of self-imposed exile. He challenged his conviction in both cases and the Islamabad High Court acquitted him. This emboldened his sons to return from London to face the charges.
After the court suspended their absconding status, they returned on March 12 until March 14 when they finally appeared in court and were released on bail.
They also asked the court to acquit them after the main accused was acquitted.
The accountability court heard the acquittal plea on Tuesday. Judge Nasir Javed Rana, who heard the case, acquitted two persons in three cases.
Earlier, the court had given significant relief to Sharif’s sons by quashing an earlier order declaring them criminals and canceling their permanent arrest warrants.
With the acquittal of the case against his two sons on Tuesday, Nawaz Sharif’s entire family was also exonerated in the case launched against him and his family in 2017, when he was disqualified by the Supreme Court .
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
