Lahore: Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and other top leaders of the Opposition PML-N party were charged with sedition and other serious cases for allegedly conspiring against the institutions of the army and judiciary, and inciting people against them.
The Lahore police registered a FIR on the complaint of a person on Monday, citing Sharif’s two recent speeches made through a video link from London in which the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo made blistering remarks targeting the powerful Pakistan Army.
Sharif – who left for London late last year after securing bail for medical treatment in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case and the Al Azizia case – has been targeting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan as well as many state institutions, including the judiciary and the military.
He served as Pakistan’s prime minister three times, first removed by a president in 1993, then by military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 1999. A court in 2017 ousted him from power over corruption allegations. Imran Khan, a former cricketer, came to power in 2018.
The case was registered under sections 10 (cyber-terrorism), 120-A (definition of criminal conspiracy), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 121-A (conspiracy to wage war against Pakistan), 123-A (condemning the creation of the country and advocating the abolishment of its sovereignty), 124-A (sedition) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (2016) and the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
In his speeches, 70-year-old Sharif alleged that the Pakistan Army had rigged the 2018 vote that brought Khan to power.
The powerful Army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 70 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy.
Sharif attacked the Army for its alleged involvement in politics, conspiring against elected governments and using the judiciary for its designs.
