Will be released from jail by next Friday: Nawaz Sharif

PML-N chief says the TV set provided to him in jail doesn't even have any private news channels tuned except PTV

In a surprising development, deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif has claimed that he will be released from prison by next Friday.

According to Express News, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief remarked during his meeting with family members and senior party leaders who visited him in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore on Thursday.

Sharif was sentenced to seven years in prison after being found guilty in the Al Azizia Steel Mills reference filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau. On January 1, he filed an appeal in the Islamabad High Court challenging his conviction in the case.

During the meeting, the three-time premier lamented that the television set provided to him in jail does not even have any private news channels tuned except the state-owned channel PTV.



Sharif went on to say that he is unable to keep the follow-up of the ongoing court proceedings.

When asked where he would prefer to go following his release from jail, he said he would go to his home in Jati Umrah instead of hospital while asserting that he will be released by the next Friday.

While talking about the ongoing uplift schemes carried out in the country, the disqualified premier said the PTI government is taking credit for development schemes and projects initiated by the PML-N government.

“The PTI government is claiming credit for our projects. The health card is not the PTI's initiative, but a PML-N project. They [PTI] have nothing to do with it,” the ex-PM said.



The PML-N top leader also expressed his 'jail ordeal' in a poetic way, saying: "Comes the day, comes the night... that's how I idle away my whole life."

He also told the  visitors that he enjoyed the rainy weather in the morning. "I would love to enjoy snowfall if I were not in the confinement."

Those who visited the former premier included his daughter Maryam Nawaz, mother Shamim Akhtar son-in-law Captain (retd) Mohammad Safdar; party leaders namely Pervez Rasheed, Khurram Dastagir, Mushahidullah Khan, Talal Chaudhry, Ameer Muqam, Ayaz Sadiq and others.