Nawaz, Maryam , Safdar released from Adiala jail after IHC suspends Avenfield sentences

Islamabad : Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar, were released from Adiala jail on Wednesday after the Islamabad High Court suspended their respective prison sentences in the Avenfield corruption reference earlier in the day.
PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif along with senior party leaders reached Adiala jail in the evening to receive Nawaz after the IHC issued their release orders.
A large number of PML-N supporters also gathered outside the prison to receive their supreme leader. Moreover, the workers showered rose petals on the convoy of Nawaz Sharif as it left the prison premises.
The Sharifs will be taken to Nur Khan Airbase, Chaklala, from where they will be flown to Lahore in a private aircraft. The convoy is moving at a slow pace as the route is crowded with supporters and workers of PML-N, who have taken to the streets to celebrate the release of their leader. Earlier in the day, an IHC division bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the appeals by the Sharifs and Capt Safdar against the verdict announced by the accountability court on July 6.
The judges accepted the convicts’ petitions against the Avenfield verdict, ruling that the sentences would remain suspended until the final judgement on their appeals.
“For the reasons to be recorded later on, the petition of Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Mohammad Safdar are allowed,” said Justice Minallah. A date will now be fixed for the hearing of the appeals.
The court granted bail to Nawaz, Maryam and Capt Safdar and ordered them to pay Rs0.5 million as surety bonds.
PML-N workers present in the courtroom started cheering as the IHC’s verdict was announced. Dozens of jubilant supporters chanted “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif!” outside the court.
Leader of the Opposition and Nawaz’s younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, following the verdict took to Twitter to share a verse from Surah Al-Isra [17:81]: “Truth has come, and falsehood has departed. Indeed is falsehood, [by nature], ever bound to depart.”