Pakistani court docket acquits PM, son in cash laundering case

A Pakistani court docket Wednesday acquitted Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his son of corruption and cash laundering prices filed in 2020, a protection lawyer mentioned.

Sharif and his son Hamza, the previous chief minister of Punjab province, had been charged throughout the administration of former prime minister Imran Khan.

They had been accused of laundering thousands and thousands of {dollars} in rupees.

The case in Special Court in Lahore was “totally baseless and politically motivated,” mentioned Sharif’s legal professional Amjad Pervez.

The prosecutor was not instantly obtainable for remark.

The Federal Investigation Agency in Lahore filed corruption and cash laundering prices in opposition to Sharif and his two sons, Hamza and Suleman, in November 2020.

Suleman has not been tried since transferring to London after the costs had been filed.

The FIA accused the three males of laundering 16.3 billion rupees (practically $200 million) between 2008 and 2018.

In Pakistan, members of successive governments have focused political opponents by submitting authorized circumstances in opposition to them, apparently to maintain them entangled in court docket proceedings and away from the political enviornment.

Sharif, the brother of disgraced former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was elected prime minister by Pakistan’s parliament earlier this yr, following per week of political turmoil that led to Khan’s ouster.