Pakistan’s ex-finance minister gets bail in corruption case

Police officers escort vehicle of Maryam Nawaz, daughter of arrested former premier Nawaz Sharif, to appears in an accountability court in Islamabad, Pakistan, July 19, 2019. Pakistani authorities have also arrested the former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and are planning to move against the country’s ex-finance minister Miftah Ismail in a corruption reference. (AP)

• Miftah Ismail is sought by the National Accountability Bureau in a case involving natural gas import
• An accountability court has also dismissed a motion against Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former Premier Nawaz Sharif

KARACHI: A defense lawyer in Pakistan says a former finance minister has been granted a week’s bail in a corruption case involving natural gas imports.
The development will delay the expected detention of ex-minister Miftah Ismail who is sought by the National Accountability Bureau.
Nihal Hashmi says the High Court in Sindh province granted Ismail bail on Friday.
Meanwhile, a court in Islamabad gave the bureau 13 days to investigate former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi who was arrested on Thursday in the same case involving Ismail.
That court also dismissed the bureau’s motion against Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former Premier Nawaz Sharif, which claimed she had submitted fake documents in the investigation against her father.
Sharif was removed from office in 2017 and is serving a seven-year term for corruption.