Nawaz Sharif gets 10-years jail

​Islamabad: Dealing a severe blow to the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ahead of the general elections, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was on Friday sentenced to 10 years in prison while his daughter Maryam Nawaz was given seven-year jail over graft charges in the purchase of overseas properties.

The verdict was delievered by the accountability court in the Avenfield corruption case, which is related to the Sharif family's ownership of four flats in the posh Avenfield House in London.

Sharif, a three-time Premier, was earlier disqualified from standing for his PML-N following conviction in corruption cases. His brother Shahbaz Sharif now heads the party and is running in the July vote.

The court ordered Sharif to pay a fine of $10.6 million while Maryam Nawaz was fined $2.6 million. Her husband Captain Safdar Awan was given one-year sentence. Accountability court Judge Mohammad Bashir announced the verdict after several delays. Sharif was sentenced for "owning assets beyond income and one year (included in the 10-year term) for not co-operating with the National Accountability Bureau. He will serve his sentences concurrently.

Maryam Nawaz received jail term "for abetting a crime and one year (included in the 7-year term) for not co-operating -- again to run concurrently. The Sharif family insists that they had purchased the apartments through "legitimate financial resources".

None of the defendants were present for the ruling. The former Premier and his daughter are currently in London with Sharif's wife Kulsoom Nawaz, who is receiving cancer treatment, and Safdar is in Pakistan but was reportedly unable to attend.