Lahore: Former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were taken into custody by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials shortly after arriving at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport on Friday night.
The flight from Abu Dhabi to Lahore took off around 5pm local time and landed in Pakistan at around 8:45pm PST.
In Lahore, authorities have braced to maintain law and order, as a large number of PML-N workers and supporters have gathered in various parts of Lahore to welcome the ousted premier and his daughter.
PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, whose caravan had gathered at Lohari Gate, is leading the main welcoming rally to the airport to accord his brother and PML-N supremo Nawaz a warm welcome.
He is currently at Regal Chowk, on his way to the airport. PML-N workers who are part of the rally are chanting slogans of "Rok sako tau rok lo (stop us if you can)".
According to media reports, no PML-N supporters have been allowed onto airport premises.
Dozens of security officials entered the plane after it landed and asked other passengers to leave. The duo's passports were seized by a three-member Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) team.
Shortly after, the two were taken into custody at around 9:25pm and put on the plane to Islamabad.
Nawaz and Maryam were convicted by an accountability court in the Avenfield corruption reference last Friday and handed jail sentences of 10 years and seven years respectively. The former was found guilty of owning assets beyond known income, while his daughter was convicted for aiding and abetting her father in covering up a "conspiracy".
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Punjab governments had made arrangements to take the father-daughter duo into custody upon arrival as they reached from abroad.
He is currently at Regal Chowk, on his way to the airport. PML-N workers who are part of the rally are chanting slogans of "Rok sako tau rok lo (stop us if you can)".
According to media reports, no PML-N supporters have been allowed onto airport premises.
Dozens of security officials entered the plane after it landed and asked other passengers to leave. The duo's passports were seized by a three-member Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) team.
Shortly after, the two were taken into custody at around 9:25pm and put on the plane to Islamabad.
Nawaz and Maryam were convicted by an accountability court in the Avenfield corruption reference last Friday and handed jail sentences of 10 years and seven years respectively. The former was found guilty of owning assets beyond known income, while his daughter was convicted for aiding and abetting her father in covering up a "conspiracy".
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Punjab governments had made arrangements to take the father-daughter duo into custody upon arrival as they reached from abroad.
PML-N workers rally in support.In Lahore, authorities have braced to maintain law and order, as a large number of PML-N workers and supporters have gathered in various parts of Lahore to welcome the ousted premier and his daughter.
PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, whose caravan had gathered at Lohari Gate, is leading the main welcoming rally to the airport to accord his brother and PML-N supremo Nawaz a warm welcome.
He is currently at Regal Chowk, on his way to the airport. PML-N workers who are part of the rally are chanting slogans of "Rok sako tau rok lo (stop us if you can)".
According to media reports, no PML-N supporters have been allowed onto airport premises.
Last leg
Former prime minister and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz had taken off from Abu Dhabi for Lahore shortly after 6pm PST on the last leg of their journey home from London.
Their flight, Etihad Airways flight EY243, was earlier scheduled to land at 6:15pm PST at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport, but instead took off from Abu Dhabi at 6:02pm PST after suffering a nearly three-hour delay.
When asked if he believes that returning to Pakistan in the current "tense" situation is a good idea, Nawaz said that he knows what the situation in the country is like.
"I know I have been handed a 10-year sentence and Maryam has been given seven years in jail, but we are returning because this country's fate needs to change — we need to change it."
"The media also needs be brave and take a stand in the face of it all," Nawaz said, adding that the media's freedom is being curbed today because "they see that this nation has risen and the media is rising and they are afraid. Why else would they do all this?"
BBC correspondent for Pakistan and Afghanistan Secunder Kermani, who was at Abu Dhabi airport, said that Nawaz and Maryam were in a lounge at the airport but security personnel would not let reporters through, so they had to huddle around a phone in a different lounge in order to speak to him.