Arrest Warrant Issued Against Nawaz Sharif

Islamabad (Pakistan): A court has issued arrest warrants to former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif today.

The warrant was issued in two corruption cases triggered by the Panama Papers leak.

Sharif is currently in London with his wife Kalsum as she undergoes cancer treatment, and has not returned to Pakistan since he was indicted in the corruption allegations earlier this month, despite reports he would do so.

Sharif was disqualified from office for life by the Supreme Court following an investigation into his family’s wealth, almost a year before his term was to end and ahead of the general elections scheduled in 2018.

The verdict was handed down unanimously by a five-member bench in a case connected to allegations stemming from disclosures in the Panama Papers last year that said his family’s wealth was more than his known sources of income. The top court also ordered criminal cases be opened against Sharif and his family.