A court in Pakistan on Friday sentenced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to 10 years in jail in a corruption case.
Sharif’s daughter was also found guilty of owning offshore companies and handed seven years of jail term, lawyers said.
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Pakistani Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to owning assets beyond his means, an official from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said, amid a corruption investigation into former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif.
The Supreme Court in July disqualified Sharif for not declaring a small source of income and ordered an investigation into Sharif, his children and Dar, Sharif’s former accountant.
Dar’s son is also married to one of Sharif’s daughters.
“Dar told the court that he was innocent and he will prove that his assets are legitimate,” Jan Achakzai, a PML-N official, said.
Dar did not speak to the media after his appearance in court in Islamabad but has dismissed all the allegations against him.
Sharif has also denied any wrongdoing and has been critical of the judiciary, calling the corruption proceedings against him a conspiracy.
Several senior PML-N figures, including Sharif’s daughter Maryam, have hinted that Pakistan’s powerful military were behind Sharif’s ouster. The army denies playing any role.
Dar was credited with steering Pakistan’s economy to a sounder footing following a 2013 balance of payments crisis but over the past year those economic gains have begun to erode, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and analysts.
Growth in the 300 billion dollars economy hit 5.3 per cent last fiscal year (July-June), the fastest pace in a decade, but foreign currency reserves have dwindled.
The 2016/17 current account deficit has more than doubled to 12.1 billion dollars.
Dar’s reluctance to let the rupee weaken to ease current account pressures has courted criticism from economists, who say the PML-N is making economic decisions with one eye on the next general election, likely to be held in mid-2018.
Some analysts have warned Pakistan may need to go back to the IMF for another bailout package if current trends continue.
Under new Prime Minister, Shahid Abbasi, Dar has been removed from the post of chairing the cabinet’s powerful Economic Coordination Committee.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Friday sacked the country’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, over a damning corruption probe into his family’s wealth.
The court declared he is unfit to hold public office, and ordered a criminal investigation of his family
The verdict truncated Sharif’s third stint in power.
However, a statement from the prime minister’s office said he resigned.
In a surprise move, the court also dismissed the Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, one of Sharif’s closest allies who has been credited with steering the economy to its fastest pace of growth in a decade.
Sharif’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, which has a majority in parliament, is expected to name a new prime minister to hold office until elections due next year.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Sharif was not fit to hold office after an investigative panel alleged his family could not account for its vast wealth.
“He is no more eligible to be an honest member of the parliament, and he ceases to be holding the office of prime minister,” Judge Ejaz Afzal Khan said in court.
Prior to the decision, several cabinet ministers, including Sharif’s closest allies, said the ruling party would respect the Supreme Court’s verdict.
“Go, Nawaz, Go,” shouted supporters of the PTI opposition party who had gathered outside the court, and who jeered politicians from Sharif’s party.
Sharif, 67, has always denied any wrongdoing and has dismissed the investigation into him as biased and inaccurate.
“This is not accountability, it is revenge,” tweeted Railways Minister, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, hours before the verdict. “In an effort to dislodge us, the democratic system has been made a target.”
Sharif’s two previous stints in power were also cut short, including by a military coup in 1999, but he returned from exile to win a resounding victory in 2013 general elections.
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An explosion has ripped through a market in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, leaving at least 25 dead and dozens wounded, officials say.
The explosion took place in the Kissa Khwani market, with shops and vehicles set alight.
The blast comes a week after a double suicide bombing that killed at least 80 people at a church in the city.
On Friday, at least 17 people were killed in the bombing of a bus carrying government employees near Peshawar.
Peshawar, the main city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has been hit by numerous bomb and gun attacks blamed on Taliban insurgents in recent years.
BBC reports that police suspected the explosion was caused by a car bomb.
Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper quoted the health minister as saying that the main Peshawar police station may have been the main target.
An emergency situation was declared at the Lady Reading Hospital as it received the injured, many of them badly burnt.
Rising violence has hindered new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s overtures to end the insurgency through peace talks with the Taliban.
Mr. Sharif is in New York attending the United Nations summit and is to meet Indian PM Manmohan Singh later on Sunday.
Nawaz Sharif has been elected as Pakistan’s prime minister after his surprise landslide victory in general elections last month.
Mr. Sharif received 244 votes in the 342-seat parliament, returning him to office for an unprecedented third time.
The BBC reports that the newly elected leader is due to be sworn in later on Wednesday.
He faces numerous pressing challenges, including reviving a weak economy and putting an end to militant attacks and United States drone strikes.
The BBC says Mr. Sharif’s priorities will be rejuvenating the economy and improving security – both areas that require some speedy but difficult decision-making in a geo-strategic environment which is shaped and controlled by the military.
While the new prime minister favours talks with the Pakistani Taliban, many expect that once he gets into power, he will accept the army’s view that all past negotiations have failed and the only option is to fight the jihadis who attack domestic targets.
He comes to power at a critical time in the battle against the Taliban – as NATO forces begin the process of withdrawing from Afghanistan.