Pakistan ex-PM’s party: Police arresting Sharif’s supporters

Ousted Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif (L) and his daughter Maryam Nawaz (R) attend a UK PMLN Party Workers Convention meeting with supporters in London on July 11, 2018. (AFP)

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party says police have detained scores of his supporters to prevent them from staging a welcome-home rally on Sharif’s return from London.
Sharif, ousted by the Supreme Court for corruption last July, was convicted in absentia last week and sentenced to 10 years.
He hasn’t yet appealed his conviction and is likely to be taken into custody as soon as he lands in Pakistan.
His Pakistan Muslim League says Sharif is due back on Friday. He has been staying with his critically ill wife in Britain.
Police say dozens of Sharif’s supporters were detained “to avoid violence.”
In an appeal from London, Sharif on Wednesday said he wasn’t afraid of prison and asked people to vote for his party in the July 25 vote.