PAKISTAN'S top court yesterday overturned opposition leader Nawaz Sharif's conviction on hijacking charges stemming from the 1999 coup against his government, clearing the last obstacle to his running for office.
Mr Sharif was banned from office after being found guilty of hijacking General Pervez Musharraf's plane in 1999. Mr Sharif was prime minister at the time, while Mr Musharraf was the head of Pakistan's army. Mr Sharif has always insisted the ban was p
olitically motivated.
In its ruling the Supreme Court said there was no evidence to support the conviction.
Mr Sharif's spokesman, Sadiqul Farooq, hailed the ruling, and said it brought a close to the final criminal case against the two-time prime minister, paving the way for his return to public office.
He said: "We knew that Nawaz Sharif is innocent, but (this] court order also proved that he had been wrongly convicted."
Yesterday's ruling was the third in the past two months to lift a ban on Mr Sharif's participating in elections.
The army ousted Mr Sharif's government in a bloodless coup on 12 October, 1999, the day Mr Sharif removed Mr Musharraf from his post as army chief and refused to allow the general's plane to land at a Karachi airport after returning from a foreign trip. The army revolted.
After assuming power, the military government charged Mr Sharif with ordering the hijacking of Mr Musharraf's plane. Mr Sharif argued he aimed to avert a coup that was already under way.
Mr Sharif went into exile in Saudi Arabia. He returned home in 2007 and filed an appeal against his conviction in the hijacking case.
