Maryam Nawaz refuses to shift to Sihala rest house

Islamabad [Pakistan]: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz has refused to move from Adiala jail in Rawalpindi to the rest house of Sihala Police Training College in Islamabad.

According to Geo TV, Maryam told authorities that she would prefer staying with her father and husband, Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar at the Adiala jail.

The jail administration wants to relocate Maryam to the Sihala rest house as the Adiala jail does not have facilities for female prisoners, as per the report.

Earlier on Wednesday, sources told Geo TV that Sharif and Maryam were likely to be shifted from Adiala jail in Rawalpindi to Sihala rest house in Islamabad.

The Islamabad chief commissioner had earlier declared the rest house as a sub-jail to keep the two figures.

On July 6, Sharif and Maryam were convicted in the Avenfield reference case by the Accountability Court.

While Sharif was given ten years of imprisonment and slapped with a fine of eight million pounds, Maryam was awarded eight years in jail and fined two million pounds. Also, Safdar was given a one-year sentence without any fine.

Upon their arrival at Lahore, the father-daughter duo was taken to Islamabad by a special chartered flight, from where they were taken to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.

It should be noted that Sharif and Maryam were in London for a month to meet the former's ailing wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, who is undergoing treatment for cancer.

On Tuesday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had cancelled the bail requests of Sharif, Maryam and Safdar in connection to the Avenfield properties case.

A two-judge division bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kyani had issued a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit a response on appeals filed by the Sharif family.

The bench rejected the appeal to grant bail to Sharif, Maryam and Safdar, and directed the NAB to submit its reply to the application seeking to suspend their conviction.

Furthermore, it requested the authorities to present a complete record of the Avenfield judgment in the next hearing.