Pakistan asks UK to deport Nawaz Sharif to serve prison sentence

Pakistan has officially made contact with authorities in the United Kingdome (UK) to deport the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to serve his prison sentence over corruption charges.

The former three-time premier and current chief of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has been living in London for nearly a year, after being temporarily released from prison for a duration of eight-week for medical treatment.

As per the Guardian, the latter was written to Home Secretary Priti Patel by Prime Minister Imran Khan's anti-corruption special adviser, Mirza Shahzad Akbar on October 5.

The latter reads: “Sharif had been guilty of pillaging Pakistan's state and the Home Secretary was “duty bound” to return him under UK immigration rules.

At the moment, the UK authorities haven’t responded to the latter, which stops short of a formal extradition request.

The two countries do not have an extradition treaty, but have exchanged a number of fugitive criminals in recent years.

Nawaz Sharif was ousted in 2017 after the Panama leak, which revealed his family had extensive assets in the UK. He was handed a seven-year sentence for corruption in the case.

The latter states that Nawaz Sharif’s presence in the UK capital is not conducive to public good and country’s own rules state those sentenced to four years or more abroad should not be allowed to remain.

“We would request the UK government excludes and deports Mr Sharif (the convict) from the UK and facilitates his return to Pakistan. He is a convicted felon, absconder and a fugitive,” the letter said.