Lahore: Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif continues to have air conditioner, television, exercise equipment and other facilities in prison as recommended by his medical board, a media report said on Saturday.
Sharif, 69, has been serving a seven-year prison term at the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore since December 24, 2018, when an accountability court convicted him in one of the three corruption cases filed in the wake of the apex court’s July 28, 2017, order in Panama Papers case.
Addressing a gathering of the Pakistani diaspora in the US last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said, “I am going to go back and make sure there is no air conditioning or no TV for Sharif. I know Maryam Bibi (Sharif’s daughter) will make some noise, but I say to her, return the money. It’s as simple as that.”
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Shehbaz Sharif had asked the government to refrain from removing the air-conditioner from the prison cell of Sharif as it will violate doctors’ recommendations and adversely affect the former prime minister’s already fragile health.
In a report on Saturday, Geo News said Shehbaz’s letter to the Chief Secretary of Punjab province regarding facilities being provided to the former prime minister was forwarded to the Home Minister.
The provincial government responded by saying Sharif continues to have air conditioning facility and other recommendations of the medical board were being followed, according to sources quoted in the report.
Sharif is also provided with heater, television, table, chair and exercise equipment.
On Thursday, the former prime minister is permitted to meet party leaders and family members at the prison, the report said.
