Convicted Ex-Prime Minister Sharif Leaves For Medical Treatment In London - Reports

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, convicted of corruption last December, departed on Tuesday for London to get medical treatment, media reported

NEW DELHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th November, 2019) Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, convicted of corruption last December, departed on Tuesday for London to get medical treatment, media reported.

In October, the ex-prime minister was released on bail on health grounds. Sharif, serving a seven-year prison sentence, was then admitted to a hospital suffering from an autoimmune blood disorder. The Interior Ministry removed Sharif from the Exit Control List, enabling him to leave the country for four weeks.

According to Pakistan's Geo tv channel, an air ambulance carrying Sharif departed from the Lahore airport and will head to Qatar first before continuing its journey to the UK capital.

In his trip, the former prime minister is accompanied by his brother, Shehbaz Sharif, and a personal physician.

Sharif and his family members were arrested in July 2018 after the publication of the so-called Panama papers. They were found guilty of corruption related to the investment of undeclared funds in a steel mill in Saudi Arabia. The ex-prime minister of Pakistan and his supporters consider the case politically motivated.

Sharif served as prime minister of Pakistan three times: from 1990-1993, 1997-1999 and 2013-2017. In 2017, the Supreme Court removed him from his post over the Panama scandal.