Former PM Nawaz Sharif challenges his conviction in Al-Azizia graft case

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday filed an appeal against his conviction in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case. 

An accountability court last month had awarded Sharif a seven-year jail term in the graft case, concluding a series of three court cases against his family in the high-profile Panama Papers scandal.

The three-time former Premier also filed an application seeking suspension of his sentence. He is currently serving his term in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail. 

In his



petition in the Islamabad High Court, Sharif said, the decision of the court was based on assumptions and false interpretation of the law. It stated that the evidence was misperceived and the accountability court had announced the verdict without hearing objections by the accused. 

Three corruption cases were filed against the former Prime Minister on the Supreme Court’s orders last year in the Panama Papers case verdict that had disqualified Sharif from holding any public office for a period of ten years.