Pakistan’s ex Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been acquitted by the Lahore High Court (Rawalpindi Bench) in the chopper case, annulling the decree of the accountability court (passed in July 2000) that had sentenced Mr Sharif to 14 years of imprisonment, a fine of 50 million rupees, and ineligibility for holding a public office for 21 years. Nawaz Sharif was cleared of these charges by the Lahore High Court on Friday, June 26, 2009.

Mr. Sharif had been found guilty of tax evasion and illegal purchase of a Russian MI-8 chopper, allegedly used during his election campaign in the 90s, by an accountability court in July 2000. In yesterday’s proceedings at the court, Sharif’s lawyer argued that the helicopter in question belonged to a Qatari Sheikh Abdul Rehman Al Sani who had not been summoned as a witness by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) during Sharif’s trial in 2000. NAB’s prosecutor challenged these claims and denied that Nawaz Sharif had been disallowed seeing his lawyer while being in the Attock Jail, the same year.

Both the president and the prime minister congratulated Nawaz Sharif upon his acquittal in the chopper case. Members of parliament belonging to Mr. Sharif’s party celebrated the court’s decision by sending congratulations and sweets.