Live Updates: Nawaz, Maryam arrested
Nawaz has returned to Pakistan to face jail.
LAHORE (Dunya News) - Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam have been taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials few minutes after their flight landed at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport on Friday night.
Nawaz Sharif is facing a 10-year prison sentence on corruption charges, whereas, his daughter Maryam was sentenced to seven years in prison.
The ex-premier s son-in-law is currently serving his one-year prison sentence on the same charge, which stems from the purchase of luxury apartments in Britain that the court said were bought with illegally gotten money.
Sharif is expected to appeal his conviction and seek bail against the 10-year jail term. Ahead of his return, police swept through Lahore, arresting scores of Sharif s PML-N workers to prevent them from greeting him at the airport.
In a video message reportedly from aboard his aircraft en route to Pakistan, Sharif said he was returning knowing he would be taken directly to prison.
FROM THE NEWSROOM:
09:19pm - Nawaz, Maryam being shifted to Rangers vehicle from the plane
09:21pm – Nawaz Sharif refuses to sit in car
09:22pm – Nawaz insists will walk towards the helicopter
09:16pm - FIA confiscates passports of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz
09:12pm - Nawaz, Maryam arrested
09:11pm - PML-N workers have surrounded Nawaz, Maryam
09:10pm - Female police personnel are present inside the plane
9:08pm - Rangers and Police personnel are present inside the plane
09:06pm - A standoff situation is being reported inside the plane
09:08pm - FIA team arrives to arrest the convicts
09:03pm - At least 100 PML-N workers are present inside the plane
09:00pm - Passengers are being offloaded from the plane
08:56pm - Helicopter at the airport to take Nawaz and Maryam to prison
08:51pm - Law enforcement agencies on high alert outside Allama Iqbal International Airport
08:48pm - A NAB team led by Director General Saleem Shehzad is at the airport
08:41pm - PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif and party members have reached Regal Chowk in Lahore
08:30pm - PML-N supporters baton charged by police near Bhatta Chowk; tear gas shells fired