Shame for Pakistan, cry relatives as judge sentences Mian Nawaz Sharif to life i
KAMAL SIDDIQI

KARACHI, APRIL 6: Pakistan’s former prime minister, Mian Nawaz Sharif, was sentenced Thursday to two terms of life imprisonment on charges that he refused to let a passenger plane land in Pakistan, endangering all 198 people on board.

Anti-Terrorism Court Judge, Rehmat Hussain Jafri, entered the courtroom at11.30am Pakistan time Thursday, asked the accused to be ushered in andwithin ten minutes acquitted all the accused except Sharif.

Sharif was given two terms of life imprisonment, to run concurrently, in thecharge of threatening the lives of innocent people, terrorism and hijacking.

The trial, which lasted over four months, was concluded by the judge onThursday but lawyers on both sides have said that they will appeal thedecision.

The lawyers of Sharif will now file an appeal within 7 days.

``I was shocked at the verdict. How can Sharif be given life when there areso many grey areas in the trial and the confession of a witness was takeninto account who is dubious by nature,'' said Halim Siddiqui, a former minister in the Sharif cabinet, while referring to the confessional statement by Aminullah Chaudhry, the accused-turned-statewitness.

Judge Jafri found Sharif guilty of hijacking and terrorism. He was acquittedof attempted murder and kidnapping.

Six other defendants who were charged along with Sharif, including hisbrother, were acquitted of all charges.

When the verdict was read out, family members, who had been telling prayerbeads and reciting holy verses, jumped from their seats shouting ``KhaufKaro, (Have Some Fear)'', and also said ``Nawaz Sharif zindabad.''

Sharif was wearing a white shalwar kameez with a black waist coat. He lookedshaken when he was ushered in but when the decision was announced,he kept his calm, unlike his brother, Shahbaz, who was standing beside himand started to weep.

As Sharif was taken away, several of the women wept, some beating theirchests and others shouting. Sharif looked grim as he stood to hear the judgeannounce the verdict and sentence.

He told his family members ``Housla rakho (Have patience)'' as he was quickly ushered out of the jam-packed court room by security personnel. He was not given a chance to address the press.

Sadia Abbasi, the sister of one of the accused, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, saidthat she was disappointed with the verdict. ``We have been let down by thejudge. We placed full faith in him.''

Later, there were some scuffles as some members of Sharif's familystarted to attack journalists who wanted to ask for their comments, to venttheir anger at the decision. But any untoward incident was averted.

The wife of Saeed Mehdi, another accused, was relieved after herhusband was acquitted. Mehdi was Sharif's principal secretary.

``I don't have anything to say. I am relieved,'' she said.

Officials of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League party have said they will notask their supporters to take to the streets. They later told a pressbriefing that they would appeal against the sentence.

Sharif's wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, who wept when the verdict was announced, wasflanked by her daughter-in-law, a barrister who studied at the LSE, and thefirst wife of Sharif's younger brother, Shahbaz.

The judge also ordered all of Sharif's extensive properties confiscated. Heordered Sharif to pay Rs 2 million compensation to thepassengers and crew aboard the Pakistan International Airlines aircraft heprevented from landing. He also was fined an additional Rs 1 million. The other six men, including his brother, who were charged along with Sharif were acquitted of all the charges.

``We will go to the high court. We feel we have a very good case to fightbecause the other accused were all acquitted on the same carges,'' saidNaveed Malik, one of Sharif's lawyers. The defense has 30 days to file itsappeal. An appeal before the High Court is required by law to be concludedwthin seven days.

Sharif was charged with hijacking and terrorism after refusing to allow thepassenger aircraft returning Gen. Pervez Musharraf to Pakistan to land inKarachi.

The standoff in the air over Karachi occurred in the midst of the October 12 coup. The Army seized power after Sharif dismissed Musharraf and replaced him with a junior general.

The plane was allowed to land after the army gained control, but by thenthe aircraft had barely seven minutes of fuel remaining. There were 198people aboard the aircraft including 60 children from US-run Americanschools in Pakistan, attended by children of US diplomats stationed here.

``The conspiracy started when Nawaz Sharif ordered (former civil aviationauthority chief) Aminullah Chaudhry to stop the plane from landing when ithad entered Pakistan airspace,'' said Jafri when handing down the short orderof the verdict.

``Until then the control tower was working lawfully, but after the illegalorder to prevent the plane from landing it became a hijacking.''

The life sentence given by the judge was the lesser penalty. Under Pakistanilaw the maximum penalty for hijacking is death.

Outside the Karachi courtroom security was tight. Overhead an armyhelicopter hovered and on the rooftops of nearby buildings army andpolicemen with automatic rifles took aim at the street below.

Four activists of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League, who tried to demonstrateoutside the courthouse, were arrested, according to eyewitnesses. Theyscreamed anti-army slogans and declared Sharif their prime minister as theywere being led away by police.

Javed Jabbar, information advisor to Pakistan's army ruler, called the trialfair and said that he was satisfied that justice had been served.

``The trial has been free and fair. That was our biggest challenge,'' headded.

SAIRA Hussain, the daughter-in-law of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif,told The Indian Express that the judgment handed down by theAnti-Terrorism Court on Thursday was ``a shame for Pakistan.'' Hussain, thewife of Hussain Nawaz Sharif, the elder son of Nawaz Sharif, who is underarrest and is detained in Islamabad, said that the whole experience was``traumatic and trying'' for all members of the family. ``But we feel that wewill emerge stronger from this,'' she commented.

Saira Hussain is a barrister, who met Hussain Nawaz during her years at the London School of Economics. She is a British national and was married to Hussain Nawaz in 1997. Saira told the Express that Nawaz Sharif ``was quiet and reflective'' after the trial decision. She said that he asked to see his grandson, who was brought to the court premises, before the former Pakistan PM was moved out. ``This makes Pakistan look in a bad light all over the world. I think it is shameful,'' said Saira. The 27-year-old Saira was beside her mother-in-law, Kulsoom Nawaz, when the sentence was announced. She said that she will now fly to Islamabad so that she can try and see her husband, whose trial starts at Attock Fort on April 8.

Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.