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Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 03 Dec 2020
Islamabad: Another all out war against the opposition leaders of the country became evident when the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif a proclaimed offender after the PML-N supremo ignored all summonses and proclamations of the bench that was originally formed to hear appeals against his conviction in two graft cases, media reports said.
An accountability court in Islamabad has already declared the former PM, who has been in London since November 2019, a proclaimed offender due to his continuous absence from hearings of a gift repository – Toshakhana – case, reports The Express Tribune.
A division bench of the court, which comprised of Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani also issued show cause notices to the people who had acted as guarantors when the same court had granted bail to Sharif in Avenfield and Al-Azizia references.
Before declaring Sharif a proclaimed offender, the bench recorded the statements of three witnesses – Foreign Office Europe-I Director Mubashir Khan and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials Ijaz Ahmed and Tariq Masood – and completed proceedings of the proclamation process, The Express Tribune reported.
Sharif was found guilty in the Al-Azizia reference on Dec 24, 2018.
A Pakistan court sentenced the former Pakistan PM to seven years in prison while also imposing a fine of $25 million.
He was shifted to jail immediately.
In October 2019, Sharif was released on bail due to health issues and on November 19, 2019, he flew to London for medical treatment, The Express Tribune reported.