After about 20 days' stay in London, Maryam Safdar, the daughter of disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif, is set to return home today (Sunday) to appear before an accountability court in graft cases. Maryam, who left for London on September 18 - a day before they were scheduled to appear before Islamabad's accountability court in connection with corruption references - to enquire after the health of her ailing mother Kulsoom Nawaz who is currently undergoing cancer treatment in England.
According to reports, she would return home today (Sunday) along with her husband Captain Muhammad Safdar (Retd). The sons of the ousted prime minister - Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz - will not be accompanying their sister as they will be looking after their ailing mother back in London. However, it could not be confirmed through independent sources.
Maryam had earlier hinted at skipping the appearance before the accountability court but, according to sources, she decided to stage a comeback after her lawyers told her that she should appear before the court as the cases against her are believed to be a bit weak.
Maryam, who led the NA-120 by-election campaign on behalf of her mother Kulsoom Nawaz for over a month, had left for London on a foreign airline's flight hours after her mother won the by-poll. The departure of Maryam and Safdar had triggered speculations that the Sharif family had gathered in London and may not return to face corruption and money laundering references filed against them in the accountability courts.
On October 2, the accountability court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Sharif's sons and son-in-law and bailable warrants against Maryam. The court ordered police to arrest all the accused and produce them before the court in the next hearing set for October 9. Earlier, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had appeared in the accountability court, hearing the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) references on October 2. The accountability court had set October 9 as the date for indictment of Nawaz Sharif.