Nawaz Sharif and his wife indicted for corruption

An anti-corruption court in Islamabad on Thursday indicted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law for not declaring four expensive apartments in London to tax authorities.

Sharif did not appear before the accountability court as he is in London where his wife Kulsoom Nawaz is being operated on for throat cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. His representative pleaded not guilty for all three.

Judge Mohammed Bashir read the charges against the accused, whose earlier pleas to defer the trial and indictment were rejected

Maryam Nawaz alleged that the Sharifs are victims of political conspiracy. “We are being targeted. This is injustice at its peak but we will continue to fight it out and prove our innocence,” she told the media.

Indictment of Sharif postponed till October 19 due to protests by lawyers.

The Sharifs have been residing at the Avenfield flats since early 90s but claimed it came in their ownership in 2006 when they purchased it from a consortium owned by Qatari Prince in which Sharifs’ son Hussain was a partner. Pakistani authorities said the Sharifs have failed to provide a paper trail to establish this claim.

Sharif’s sons Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz have so far failed to appear before the accountability court which has already issued their arrest warrants. Sharif’s family spokesman said both are British citizens and that the Pakistani law does not apply on them.

Sharif resigned as Prime Minister in July when a five-member bench of the Supreme Court declared him not truthful and honest while declaring his assets. His family was named in the Panama Papers released last year which named some ruling families around the world as having off-shore accounts to hide income from tax authorities.