LAHORE (Pakistan), July 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Former Pakistani prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has been arrested and will appear before an anti-corruption court, officials said, the latest in a string of opposition figures to be targeted under the government of his successor Imran Khan.
Abbasi — whose Pakistan Muslim Leauge-Nawaz (PML-N) party was voted out last year following a heated contest with former World Cup cricketer Khan — was taken in to custody in the eastern city of Lahore.
“He has been arrested and is expected to be produced before a NAB court … either today or tomorrow,” officials with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), an anti-corruption body, said.
Abbasi served as prime minister from August 2017 until May 2018.
His apprehension comes just weeks after former president Asif Ali Zardari was arrested for graft.
Abbasi’s predecessor Nawaz Sharif is also behind bars, after being sentenced to seven years in prison late last year for corruption. His brother Shabhaz Sharif has also been targeted by anti-corruption authorities.
Corruption is widely entrenched in Pakistan, and Khan was elected last year after running a fiery campaign vowing to crack down on graft.
Since taking office, Khan has struggled to stabilise Pakistan’s sinking economy beset by soaring inflation, a depreciating rupee, and ballooning deficits. — NNN-AGENCIES
