Pakistan court acquits Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia Steel Mill Corruption Case

The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday acquitted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former prime ministerNawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia Steel mill corruption case as he eyes a record fourth term as premier in the next elections. An anti-corruption court sentenced 73-year-old Sharif to seven years in prison and a hefty fine in December 2018 after he was unable to persuade the court that he was unrelated to the Saudi steel plant his father founded in 2001.

On Tuesday, Sharif was found not guilty in the Al-Azizia case by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

In the Avenfield case, he was found guilty in July 2018 and given a ten-year jail term; nevertheless, he was already found not guilty. He also received relief in the Flagship corruption case, where the court found him not guilty in 2018. However, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) disputed the acquittal at the IHC.

When the mill was established, Sharif was living in exile in Saudi Arabia following the overthrow of his administration in 1999 by the then-military dictator Pervez Musharraf, who also forced the former first family to flee the nation. Hussain Nawaz, the mill's administrative chief, was the son of Sharif.

In October, Sharif—the first leader from Pakistan to hold the position of prime minister in the coup-prone nation three times—returned to head his party in the general elections that would take place in February 2024.