ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday arrested opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif after the Lahore High Court rejected his bail application in a money-laundering case, while former president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, was indicted by a court in a separate money laundering case.
Sharif is accused of being a beneficiary of assets held in the name of his family members and others who did not have the declared means to acquire such wealth. He is the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament. He is also the brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to seven years in prison for corruption, but is currently in London after the court granted him medical bail.
PMLN vice president Maryam Nawaz reacted to Sharif’s arrest on Twitter:
“Make no mistake. Shehbaz Sharif has been arrested ONLY because he REFUSED to play in the hands of those who wanted to use him against his brother. He preferred standing behind prison bars than to stand against his brother.”
Make no mistake. Shehbaz Sharif has been arrested ONLY because he REFUSED to play in the hands of those who wanted to use him against his brother. He preferred standing behind prison bars than to stand against his brother. Shahbaz Sharif, aap ko SALAM!
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) September 28, 2020
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the chairman of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party, “strongly condemned” the arrest.
پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری کی اپوزیشن لیڈر شہباز شریف کی گرفتاری کی شدید الفاظ میں مذمت
پاکستان ڈیموکریٹک موومنٹ سے بوکھلائے عمران خان اوچھے ہتھکنڈوں پر اتر آئے ہیں، چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری@BBhuttoZardari— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) September 28, 2020
An anti-graft crusade spearheaded by the government of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has led to swathes of arrests of politicians in recent months, but critics have called it a one-sided purge of political opponents, which the government denies.
Zardari, who was indicted along with his sister Faryal Talput and 13 others on Monday, is the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, assassinated in 2007. He served as president from 2008 to 2013 and is currently a member of parliament.
Him and Talpur are being investigated in a case involving fake accounts and fictitious bank transactions amounting to Rs35 billion. The siblings are alleged to have illegally channelled funds through fake accounts in connivance with CEOs of major banks. They deny all charges.
Responding to reporters' questions on Monday’s indictment, Zardari said outside the court: “We have passed through such junctures earlier also.”
