|
|
Change Your Life! |
Sharif supporters say no protests regardless of hijacking verdict |
|
News
|
April 6, 2000
ISLAMABAD, APR 5 (AP) - Despite calls by the wife of deposed premier Nawaz Sharif to hold demonstrations if her husband is found guilty in a hijacking trial, his supporters said Wednesday they won't take to the streets.
Antiterrorist court Judge Rehmetullah Hussein Jaffri will hand down the verdict Thursday. If Sharif is found guilty he could be sentenced to death.
Sharif, his younger brother Shahbaz and five other men are charged with hijacking, terrorism, attempted murder and kidnapping. The prosecution has asked for the death sentence. All seven men have pleaded not guilty.
"We will not ask our party workers to break the law or stage violent protests should (Sharif) be convicted by the special court," said Raja Zafarul Haq, a spokesman for the ousted premier's Pakistan Muslim League. The party would, however, challenge a conviction in court, he said.
Sharif's wife, Khulsoom Sharif, has asked her husband's supporters to demonstrate if he is found guilty. Haq said Sharif's wife would be asked not to break party ranks and operate independently.
"One can understand her anxiety, but the party has no plans to confront the army and we are sure that Mrs. Nawaz Sharif will abideby the party decision," said Haq.
Sharif and his six associates are accused of endangering the life of army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf by refusing to give his airliner permission to land in the southern city of Karachi. The standoff occurred during an Oct. 12 coup in which the military seized power in Pakistan after Sharif dismissed Musharraf.
The plane eventually landed, but with barely seven minutes of fuel remaining.
"He's an innocent person. God willing he will be a free man tomorrow," Khulsoom Sharif told The Associated Press in an interview in southern Karachi before visiting her husband in jail. "I have full faith in God."
During a five-hour visit to Pakistan on March 25 U.S. President Bill Clinton asked military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to spare Sharif's life. Musharraf said he wasn't a vindictive man, but the decision was with the courts.
Haq said a death sentence would hurt Pakistan's image abroad.
"There is a perception abroad that the courts are not free and fair here," he said. "A death sentence will enforce this perception."
Sharif would not be the first Pakistani prime minister to face a death sentence.
In 1979 Pakistan hanged Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whose government was toppled by the army two years earlier. Bhutto was convicted of plotting to kill a political enemy. Despite international pleas for his life the military dictator of the day, Gen. Zia-ul Haq, ordered his execution.
"We are keeping our fingers crossed," said Sheikh Rashid, a former minister in Sharif's Cabinet. "We will decide our course of action once the verdict is announced."
Sharif's lawyers have seven days to file an appeal with the Sindh High Court. A final appeal can be made before the Supreme Court. And finally Pakistan's president can commute a death sentence.
Rashid said a prison term could work in Sharif's favor, building his popularity.
"Going to prison is not bad for politicians," he said. "We only want that he is not given a death sentence."
In Sharif's hometown of Lahore, Thursday's verdict dominates many conversations.
"Nawaz Sharif has committed many mistakes, but he should not be hanged," said Amjad Butt, 39, a shopkeeper in Gawalmandi, a poor neighborhood from where Sharif has won five consecutive elections.
Mohammed Asghar, 52, who sells fresh juice at a roadside stand in Sharif's constituency said the former prime minister seldom visited his constituents.
"Even during worst crisis, he would come to Lahore to play cricket and relax at his farm. Perhaps that was his mistake. But we don't want to see a rope around his neck," he said.
Mufti Kafil, another resident of the area, advocated a life sentence.
"He should be imprisoned for life so that he spends his remaining days pondering over his mistakes," said Kafil. "That would be the true justice for him."
|