Nawaz Sharif acquitted in Flagship case on basis of ‘benefit of doubt’

The accountability court gave ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif 'the benefit of the doubt' and acquitted him in the Flagship corruption case filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Accountability court Judge Arshad Malik prepared a sixty nine pages verdict and issued the detailed report today. In its detailed verdict regarding the Flagship case, in which the court had saved Sharif on December 24, Judge Malik said that there was not sufficient evidence against Sharif to convict him, local media reported. The verdict also reads that the bureau also provided documents which were incomplete.

On December 24, the court convicted Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference and acquitted him in the Flagship reference filed by NAB. The court convicted Sharif under section 9 (a) (v) and section 10 of National Accountability Ordinances (NAO) 1999.

It sent Sharif to seven years in prison and slapped him with a fine of Rs 1.5 billion and $25 million. Sharif has already been sentenced by the same court to 10 years in prison in the Avenfield case. However, he was released after a high court suspended his jail term.