Nawaz Sharif delays return to Pakistan from London

Islamabad: After his indictment by an accountability court, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s schedule for his return to Pakistan from London has been changed.

He will now depart from London on October 23 instead of October 21, said a Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader.

Earlier, the accountability court indicted Nawaz Sharif on corruption charges spiraling from the Panama Papers leak.

The indictment presents a fresh challenge to Mr Sharif’s beleaguered party ahead of next year’s general elections, which he is barred from contesting.

 A Sharif representative entered a not guilty plea for the sacked Prime Minister, who is currently in London with his wife Kulsoom Nawaz as she undergoes cancer treatment.

The court also indicted his daughter Maryam Nawaz and her husband in the case, which relates to the family’s luxury London properties. Maryam, who attended the hearing in Islamabad, pleaded not guilty and blasted the court’s decision afterwards.

“(The) charges are not only groundless, baseless unfounded also frivolous and on top of that we are being denied our right to fair trial,” she said in a statement to the court.

In late July the Supreme Court sacked Sharif following an investigation into corruption allegations against his family, making him the 15th premier in Pakistan’s 70-year history to be ousted before completing a full term.

The allegations against the prime minister stemmed from the Panama Papers leak last year, which sparked a media frenzy over the luxurious lifestyles and high-end London property portfolio owned by his family.