The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday suspended the sentences handed to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar in the Avenfield corruption reference, reported the Dawn.
An IHC division bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb was hearing the appeals by the Sharifs and Capt Safdar against the verdict announced by the accountability court on July 6. The judges accepted the convicts’ petitions against the Avenfield verdict, suspending their sentences in the meantime.
PML-N workers present in the courtroom started cheering as the IHC’s verdict was announced. It is pertinent to mention that the accountability court’s verdict stands; only the sentences of the three convicts have been suspended.
Following the suspension, Nawaz, Maryam and Capt Safdar will be released from jail after completion of formalities. It is unclear whether they would be released today or in a few days. All three have been ordered to pay Rs0.5 million as surety bonds.
Leader of the Opposition and Nawaz’s younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, following the verdict took to Twitter to share a verse from Surah Al-Isra [17:81]:
وَ قُلْ جَآءَالْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَطِلُ، إِنَّ الْبَطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) September 19, 2018
