Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif got a message from Saudi authorities to come to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia if he finds it difficult to stay in the United Kingdom, senior journalist Mubasher Lukman revealed on Monday.
The senior journalist broke the news in 24NewsHD’s DNA programme. He claimed that Saudi Arabia has started preparations for the former premier’s arrival in the kingdom.
In 2019, Nawaz left the country for treatment in London on a court order. The three-time prime minister was serving a prison sentence for corruption when he approached the high court to go abroad as he was on drugs for a cardiac problem and suffered from diabetes and kidney issues.
The country’s richest industrialist was prime minister from 1990 to 1993, then again from 1997 to 1999, and finally from 2013 to 2017.
In 2018 – following the Panama Papers leak – he was found guilty of corruption, relating to his family's ownership of upmarket London apartment, although he denies wrongdoing and claims that he was being forced to quit politics.
He was given a 10-year prison sentence but released two months later when the court suspended the sentences and in December 2018 he was jailed for corruption again, this time for seven years, in relation to his family's ownership of steel mills in Saudi Arabia.