PAKISTAN: The sons of three-time Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have returned to Pakistan, six years after they left for London to avoid arrest in corruption cases in the Panama Papers scandal, reported Dawn.
The return of Hussain and Hassan, sons of Nawaz Sharif, was made possible after an accountability court last week suspended their arrest warrants in three corruption cases related to the Panama Papers.
Like their father the duo were also living in the UK in a self-imposed exile.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) kept the arrival of Hussain and Hassan Nawaz a “low-key” affair, as the media was not informed about their return, according to Dawn. Reportedly, both landed at the Lahore airport from London and were escorted to their Jati Umra residence under the tight security of the Punjab police.
Hussain and Hassan Nawaz left the country in 2018 after they were involved in corruption cases.
Later, they were declared proclaimed offenders for not joining the investigation and court proceedings and subsequently, their arrest warrants were issued, Dawn reported.
However, last week, the Islamabad accountability court suspended the arrest warrants of Hussain and Hasan until March 14 in the Avenfield apartments, Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment corruption references.
They filed an application through their counsel, Qazi Misbahul Hassan, seeking the suspension of warrants issued against them in these cases.
Reportedly, the court accepted the application, as reported by Dawn.
The petitioners said that they wanted to surrender before the court “in good faith” to face the proceedings. They would appear before the court by March 14, reported Dawn.
The court agreed with the NAB prosecutor’s submission that “the purpose of the perpetual warrant of arrest is to procure the attendance of the accused and if the accused intends to surrender himself before the court, they may be allowed to face the trial.”
In their written reply to the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case, Hussain admitted to owning offshore properties, while Hassan outright denied owning any property abroad, reported Dawn.
ANI
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