Suffered for 8 months in Attock Jail without crime: Hussain Nawaz

LONDON: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s eldest son Hussain Nawaz Sharif has said that he spent eight months in extremely harsh conditions without any access to legal aid or justice in the same Attock Jail where the former Prime Minister Imran Khan is now imprisoned after his conviction for corrupt practices in Toshakhana case.

Speaking to Geo News here in an interview about the Attock Jail conditions and Imran Khan’s imprisonment, Hussain Nawaz said: “I, Shehbaz Sharif, Sardar Mahtab Ahmed Khan, Azam Hoti and Dr Farooq Sattar were imprisoned in the same jail and in the same cells by the former dictator Pervez Musharraf. Shehbaz Sharif was there for about four months and I spent eight months there from April 2000 to December 2000.”

Hussain Nawaz said it used to be either extremely hot and humid or extreme hold in Attock Jail. “Neither I was told what my crime was nor anyone told me why I was imprisoned when I was freed from there and forced into exile; there was no court order, no law, no justice, no case and no human rights for us; I was arrested and imprisoned illegally and forced out illegally too,” said Hussain Nawaz.

When asked to comment on complaints made by Imran Khan about the jail conditions, Nawaz Sharif’s son said he endorsed his uncle Shehbaz Sharif’s stance that one should not celebrate anyone else’s difficulty as it can dawn upon anyone at any time. He added: “I must tell you there was no such thing called law and justice and courts at that time were under complete control of Musharraf. You couldn’t complain about any of the things that you can do today; those who were punished at that time didn’t know what their crimes were, there was no legal access and no relief was possible. We spent time there with dignity. It was extremely cold and extremely hot. We suffered all that with patience.”

When a reporter asked what his advice to Imran Khan would be, Hussain Nawaz said he has no advice for Imran Khan and will not comment on his situation but added that he never asked for A-class facilities.

Islamabad Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar last week convicted and jailed former Imran Khan for concealment of assets and corrupt practices in Toshakhana case for three years.