ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is scheduled to hear former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s appeal today, Thursday, challenging his seven-year sentence in the Al-Azizia corruption reference, as the country’s accountability watchdog has urged the judiciary to increase his sentence in the case.
The Al-Azizia Steel Mills case became a high-profile corruption case that centered on allegations of financial irregularities and money laundering linked to the establishment of the facility in Saudi Arabia by Sharif and his family.
A local accountability court in the federal capital sentenced him to seven years in December 2018 and imposed a fine of £2.5 million in the case. The verdict also disqualified the ex-premier from holding any public office for 10 years and ordered him to forfeit all his properties.
Sharif was arrested from the court premises and remained in prison for about seven months before leaving for London in November 2019 for medical treatment after securing a bail from the court.
Sharif returned to Pakistan from the self-imposed exile nearly after four years in October and filed appeals against his convictions in two separate corruption references, Al-Azizia and Avenfield. The IHC acquitted the former prime minister in the Avenfield reference last month.
A divisional bench of IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq is scheduled to take up Sharif’s appeal in Al-Azizia reference today seeking to overturn his conviction in the case.
During the ex-premier’s last court appearance in November, one of his party leaders and former law minister, Azam Nazir Tarar, sought exemption for him from personal appearance.
“There are security issues at every hearing,” he said.
The court asked Sharif’s legal team to file an application for exemption while promising to look into the issue.
Meanwhile, the National Accountability Bureau that had filed corruption references against the ex-premier was requesting the court through an appeal to enhance Sharif’s sentence in Al-Azizia reference as awarded by the accountability court in December 2018.
Counsels from both the sides will present their arguments before the court today to plead their case.
Pakistani court to take up ex-PM Sharif’s appeal against conviction in case today
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Pakistani court to take up ex-PM Sharif’s appeal against conviction in case today
- Sharif was given seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia corruption case in December 2018
- Pakistan’s accountability watchdog has urged the court to enhance Sharif’s sentence in the case
Pakistan PM says Indian bid to set ‘new norm’ thwarted, vows focus on economy and governance
- Shehbaz Sharif tells military officials in Quetta India suffered setbacks on battlefield and in diplomatic realm
- He reiterates that New Delhi will not be allowed to ‘weaponize water,’ calling IWT suspension a ‘red line’
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday highlighted a range of security threats facing Pakistan days after a military standoff with India, saying New Delhi’s attempt to establish a “new norm” by targeting his country at will had been thwarted, though Pakistan must now focus on strengthening economy and governance.
The remarks came during a televised address to senior military officers at the Command and Staff College in Quetta, where the premier recounted the recent escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
The flare-up followed an April attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, which New Delhi blamed on a Pakistan. Islamabad denied the allegation and called for an impartial probe, but tensions rapidly escalated into four days of cross-border hostilities, ending after a US-brokered ceasefire on May 10.
“The threats we face are no longer limited to conventional battlefields,” Sharif said during his address. “They are multifaceted, ranging from kinetic warfare to cyberattacks, economic coercion to disinformation campaigns and hybrid threats that challenge both our borders and our ideological frontiers.”
“The recent Indian aggression against Pakistan, violating our territorial integrity and targeting our innocent civilians, was not merely countered successfully, but instead we succeeded in turning the tables on those who were dreaming of establishing a new norm,” he said.
Sharif added that Pakistan accepted the ceasefire offer “in the interest of peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia,” asserting that India’s claim of a new strategic precedent “was buried for all times to come by our brave armed forces.”
“In fact, it was Pakistan that established the new norm in its relations with India,” he said. “Henceforth, we will not allow her to behave in an arrogant and haughty manner.”
The prime minister said India had suffered “serious setbacks in both warfare and finest diplomacy” during the episode.
Turning to domestic matters, Sharif said while the military had fulfilled its responsibility, Pakistan still faced “major challenges in the field of economy and governance.”
He cited the dire financial situation when his administration took office, saying it compelled Pakistan to seek external assistance from lenders such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
However, he maintained the economy had since stabilized and was now on a positive trajectory.
The prime minister also criticized India’s recent move to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a World Bank-brokered water-sharing agreement signed in 1960, reiterating it was unacceptable to his country.
“We will not allow India to weaponize water by holding the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance,” he said. “This is an absolute red line for us.”
Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem reigns supreme with javelin gold at Asian Athletics Championships
- India’s Sachin Yadav won silver with an 85.16m throw, while Japan’s Yuta Sakiyama took bronze by throwing 83.75m
- Nadeem made history at 2024 Paris Olympics by winning Pakistan’s first athletics gold with a record throw of 92.97m
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem on Saturday won gold with a massive 86.4-meter throw in the men’s javelin final at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, Pakistani state media reported.
Nadeem is the first Pakistani in over 50 years to win a gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships. Pakistan’s Allah Daad last topped the podium in javelin throw and Muhammad Younis won the 800-meter event in 1973.
“Arshad Nadeem has once again made the nation proud by making a massive 86.40 meter throw and led the field in the men’s Javelin final at the Asian Athletics Championship in Gumi,” the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
In Saturday’s event, India’s Sachin Yadav won silver with an 85.16m throw, while Japan’s Yuta Sakiyama took bronze with an 83.75m throw. Both threw their personal best.
Nadeem advanced to the final with a powerful throw of 86.34 meters on his first and only attempt in the A qualification round on Friday.
He made history at the 2024 Paris Olympics by winning Pakistan’s first-ever athletics gold with a record-breaking javelin throw of 92.97 meters. His throw not only set a new Olympic and Asian record but also ended Pakistan’s 32-year Olympic medal drought.
Nadeem has since become a national hero, inspiring millions with his journey from humble beginnings in smalltown Mian Channu to the top of the Olympic podium.
Pakistan voices concern over rise in Islamophobic incidents in India
- The reports of increasing attacks against Muslims in India emerged after an April 22 attack on Hindu tourists in disputed Kashmir
- Pakistan’s foreign office urges the Indian government to uphold the rights and safety of all its citizens, regardless of their faith
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan expresses grave concern over a rise in Islamophobic incidents across India, the Pakistani foreign office said on Saturday, following reports of attacks against Muslims.
The reports of increasing attacks against Muslims and Kashmiris in India emerged after an April 22 attack on Hindu tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam town that killed 26 people.
New Delhi blamed the assault on Pakistan, a charge denied by Islamabad. The attack triggered a four-day standoff between the neighbors this month that killed 70 people on both sides before a truce was announced on May 10.
At least 184 anti-Muslim hate incidents, including murders, assaults, threats and vandalism, have been recorded countrywide in India, Indian media outlets quoted New Delhi-based Association for Protection of Civil Rights as saying this month.
“Pakistan calls upon the Government of India to uphold the rights and safety of all its citizens, regardless of faith,” Pakistani foreign office spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan said, adding that such incidents violate international human rights obligations and vitiate the prospects for communal harmony and regional stability.
Bitter rivals India and Pakistan have fought three wars, including two over the disputed region of Kashmir, since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety but rule it in part.
While a conflict between the neighbors feeding minority hatred on either side is not a new phenomenon, critics and rights bodies say Hindu right-wing groups have become emboldened in recent years due to a “culture of impunity.”
“Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi likes to boast of India’s democratic traditions, but it’s become increasingly hard for him to hide his government’s deepening crackdown on minorities and critics,” Meenakshi Ganguly, the deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in January this year.
“A decade of discriminatory policies and repression has weakened the rule of law and has restricted the economic and social rights of marginalized communities.”
India lost fighter jets in recent conflict with Pakistan, Indian defense chief confirms
- On May 7, Indian jets bombed what New Delhi called ‘terrorist infrastructure’ sites across the border
- Pakistan has said it downed six Indian planes, including at least three Rafale fighters, in initial clashes
SINGAPORE: India switched tactics after suffering losses in the air on the first day of conflict with Pakistan earlier this month and established a decisive advantage before the neighbors announced a ceasefire three days later, India’s highest ranking general said on Saturday.
The heaviest fighting in decades between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan was sparked by an April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. New Delhi blamed the incident on “terrorists” backed by Pakistan, a charge denied by Islamabad.
On May 7, Indian jets bombed what New Delhi called “terrorist infrastructure” sites across the border. Pakistan has said it downed six Indian planes, including at least three Rafale fighters, in the initial clashes.
The ceasefire was announced on May 10 after bitter fighting in which both sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery.
General Anil Chauhan, India’s chief of defense staff, said in an interview that India suffered initial losses in the air, but declined to give details.
“What was important is, why did these losses occur, and what we’ll do after that,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, referring to the Pakistani claim of downing jets.
“So we rectified tactics and then went back on the 7th, 8th and 10th in large numbers to hit air bases deep inside Pakistan, penetrated all their air defenses with impunity, carried out precision strikes.”
The Indian air force “flew all types of aircraft with all types of ordinances on the 10th,” he said.
India has previously said its missiles and drones struck at least eight Pakistani air bases across the country that day, including one near the capital Islamabad.
The Pakistan military says that India did not fly its fighter jets again in the conflict after suffering losses on May 7.
India’s director general of air operations, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, had told a press conference earlier in the month that “losses are a part of combat” and that India had downed some Pakistani jets.
Islamabad has denied it suffered any losses of planes but has acknowledged its air bases suffered some hits although losses were minimal.
NO NUCLEAR WORRIES
Some of the attacks were on bases near Pakistan’s nuclear facilities, but they themselves were not targeted, media reports have said.
“Most of the strikes were delivered with pinpoint accuracy, some even to a meter, to whatever was our selected mean point of impact,” Chauhan said.
Chauhan, and Pakistan’s chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza, have both said there was no danger at any time during the conflict that nuclear weapons were considered.
“I think there’s a lot of space before that nuclear threshold is crossed, a lot of signalling before that, I think nothing like that happened,” Chauhan said. “There’s a lot of space for conventional operations which has been created, and this will be the new norm.
“It’s my personal view that the most rational people are people in uniform when conflict takes place,” he added. “During this operation, I found both sides displaying a lot of rationality in their thoughts as well as actions. So why should we assume that in the nuclear domain there will be irrationality on someone else’s part?“
Chauhan also said that although Pakistan is closely allied with China, which borders India in the north and east, there was no sign of any actual help from Beijing during the conflict.
“While this was unfolding from (April) 22nd onwards, we didn’t find any unusual activity in the operational or tactical depth of our northern borders, and things were generally all right.”
Asked whether China may have provided any satellite imagery or other real-time intelligence to Pakistan during the conflict, Chauhan said such imagery was commercially available and could have been procured from China as well as other sources.
He added that while hostilities had ceased, the Indian government had made it clear it would “respond precisely and decisively should there be any further terror attacks emanating from Pakistan.”
“So that has its own dynamics as far the armed forces are concerned. It will require us to be prepared 24/7.”
Pakistan national airline resumes direct flights from Dubai to Skardu to boost tourism
- Skardu lies in the heart of Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region, home to five of the world’s 14 tallest peaks and a major tourist destination
- The development comes days after PIA announced the launch of direct flights from Lahore to Paris, with the first flight taking off on June 18
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has resumed direct flights between Dubai and Pakistan’s mountainous Skardu district, the Pakistani consulate in Dubai said on Friday, in a bid to boost tourism.
The Skardu district lies in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, which is home to five of the world’s 14 peaks above 8,000 meters and a major tourist destination. In Jan., CNN declared the scenic region among top 25 destinations in the world that are particularly worth visiting in 2025.
To mark the resumption of PIA’s Dubai-Skardu flights, initially launched in Aug. 2023, a ceremony was held at the airline’s office in Dubai, which was attended by Pakistani Consul General Hussain Muhammad and other officials.
“PIA Regional Manager Mr. Sarmad Aizaz and his team hosted the event, celebrating this significant step toward boosting tourism and strengthening people-to-people ties between the UAE and Pakistan,” the Pakistani consulate said.
“The event also welcomed members of a foreign tourist group traveling on the inaugural flight, underscoring the growing interest in Pakistan’s scenic northern areas.”
The development comes days after PIA announced the launch of direct flights from Lahore to Paris, with the first flight taking off on June 18.
In January, PIA resumed flights to Europe after a four-and-a-half-year ban was lifted by EU regulators, becoming the only carrier to offer a direct route to and from the European Union.
