Pakistan's deposed premier Nawaz Sharif was yesterday sentenced in absentia to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by an anti-graft court in one of the three corruption cases against him in the Panama Papers scandal, dealing a huge blow to his party ahead of the elections on July 25. The Islamabad Accountability Court sentenced 68-year-old Sharif to 10 years in jail for owning assets beyond income and one year for not cooperating with the anti-corruption authority, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The sentences will run concurrently which means the former prime minister will serve 10 years in jail.

Sharif's 44-year-old daughter and co-accused Maryam was given seven years for abetment, and one year for non-cooperation with the NAB, also to run concurrently. Considered to be Sharif's political heir, Maryam will serve seven years in total. Sharif's son-in-law Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar was jailed for one year rigorous imprisonment for not cooperating with the NAB.