Jailed For Corruption, Maryam Nawaz Shares Audio Message For Supporters

The daughter of Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, Maryam, who is lodged in Rawalpindi's Adiala jail, has conveyed an emotional message to her supporters.

An audio message of Maryam which was reportedly recorded in London before her imprisonment surfaced on social media in Pakistan on Saturday.

In the audio, the PML-N leader appealed to the people of Pakistan to keep the preparations of upcoming general elections underway, saying, "raise the worth of the country, raise the worth of your vote."

"Had I not been in a jail, I would have been fighting with you all and now that I am imprisoned, I still am with you every moment. Your daughter appeals to you to keep the preparation of the elections underway," she added.

On arriving at Lahore's Allama Iqbal Airport from London, Maryam and her father, who are convicted in corruption case, were arrested on Friday. The father-daughter duo was in London to meet Sahrif's ailing wife Begum Kulsoom.

"You know I have left my mother in state of sickness back in London. When I reached London with my father, she was unconscious and the day we left London for Pakistan, she opened up her eyes for a few seconds, saw us but we could not talk. You understand mother-daughter relationship," Maryam can be heard saying in the audio message.

"Controlling my emotions, I have come here and surrendered to the law of the land. I appeal to you all to pray for my mother's health so that I can see her fit and hug her," she added.

Maryam also said she is not serving the jail term because she has committed a crime but rather because she is the daughter of Nawaz Sharif.

"I am not here because I have committed a crime but because I am Nawaz Sharif's daughter. I am a daughter of a brave father. A brave daughter of brave nation. They wanted me to be Nawaz Sharif's weakness, rather I emerged as his strength," she said.

Nawaz Sharif was sentenced by a court in Islamabad over the purchase of high-end properties in London. He was awarded ten years in jail while his daughter got eight years of imprisonment along with others ahead of the general elections in Pakistan on July 25.