Sharif says not afraid of being arrested

By NNN-PTI

Islamabad : Unfazed by the Pakistan Attorney General’s warning that he may be arrested on his arrival home from exile, deposed Premier Nawaz Sharif, who won the right to return to the country in a landmark Supreme Court verdict, has said he cannot be “terrorised” through threats.


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“They can’t terrorise me through threats,” Sharif told ‘Dawn’ over phone from London, adding that he was not afraid of being arrested or implicated in “false” cases.

However, when asked if he would move the court to seek an injunction that he should not be arrested on his return to Pakistan, the ex-Premier said all issues would be looked into.

His remarks came as Attorney General Malik Abdul Qayyum said Sharif could be arrested on his arrival home. Qayyum also said that the PML-N leader cannot contest the upcoming elections because his conviction in a plane hijack conspiracy case remained as the sentence awarded to him was not pardoned but only remitted by General Pervez Musharraf.

Asked if Saudi Arabia, where he was sent to exile as part of an alleged deal, had any role to play in preparing the ground for his return to Pakistan, Sharif said “we should stop involving the Saudis in sensitive matters. We should give up this habit.” The PML-N leader said the Supreme Court had looked into the document presented by the government – which it claimed was a copy of the “agreement” signed by Sharif – and its verdict had vindicated what he had been saying for long.

When asked whether he would come to Pakistan straight from London or via Saudi Arabia, Sharif said “so far we haven’t finalised our programme.”

The former Premier said restoration of democracy, riddance from the Army’s role in governance, independence of judiciary and supremacy of the Constitution were the major issues on the list of his priorities.

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