Nawaz Sharif arrested highlights: Ex-PM, Maryam taken to Sihala rest house
Islamabad/New Delhi, July 13: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz landed at the Lahore airport on Friday evening (9:15 IST) and were arrested even before they exited the plane. They were convicted by a Pakistani court in the Avenfield Apartments case. Nawaz and daughter Maryam face 10 years and 7 years in prison, respectively.
According to local media reports, Pakistan Rangers were deployed at the Lahore airport ahead of the arrival or Nawaz and Maryam Sharif in Pakistan.
Here are the developments of Friday evening:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan said that those receiving embattled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore were "donkeys," ANI reported. His comments evoked a strong response from the PML-N with Shehbaz Sharif denouncing PTI chief's comments.
Hitting back at Imran Khan for calling party workers donkeys, Shehbaz Sharif said that Imran Khan neither knows politics nor morality, he will see millions of PML-N workers will reach to welcome their leader, Dunya News reported.
PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto was scheduled to fly from Lahore to Peshawar on Friday. However, his flight has been cancelled following intense security arrangements at the airport ahead of former Paksitani PM Nawaz Sharif's arrival.
Here's how Nawaz Sharif was given 'full VIP treatment' in Abu Dhabi.
PML-N Quaid Muhammad Nawaz Sharif got full VIP protocol from the UAE government. pic.twitter.com/oZ1Tx9flFx
Earlier in the day, Sharif on-board flight had said,''I'll be taken straight to jail. But I'm doing this for people of Pak, sacrificing for generations to come. Such opportunity won't come again. Let's build destiny of Pak together.''
Officials have said a helicopter each had been positioned at airports in Islamabad and Lahore airports for the arrest.
The father-daughter duo, who traveled to London just before Eid ul Fitr to be with ailing Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, are scheduled to arrive in Lahore on Friday at 6:15 pm. They would be kept at Adiala jail for 1 day and then would be transferred to Attock Fort.
Security has been beefed up at New Islamabad International Airport ahead of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's arrival .
Meanwhile, flights that were to arrive at Islamabad airport this morning have been diverted to Lahore airport.
Sharif is returning from Britain one week after an anti-corruption court handed him a 10 year jail term over the purchase of luxury London flats and sentenced his daughter to seven years in prison.
Earlier on Thursday, Sharif had a farewell meeting with former finance minister Ishaq Dar in London, before leaving for Abu Dhabi.
Hussain Nawaz, son of former Pak PM, speaking on the health of his mother Kulsoom Nawaz said,''She has opened eyes after exactly one month. I don't have anything else to share. Her sedatives were being reduced. I only request that please remember her in your prayers.''
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif tweeted,''Told my kids to be brave in the face of oppression. But kids will still be kids. Goodbyes are hard, even for the grownups."
Sharif, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court last year in the Panama Papers case, is now the supremo of the PML-N.