Pakistani Opposition Leader Maryam Nawaz Detained

Pakistani opposition leader Maryam Nawaz was arrested on August 8 by the country's anti-corruption National Accountability Bureau (NAB), officials and a spokeswoman for her party said.

Nawaz, who is vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) party, was detained while she was visiting her father, PML-N founder and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, at the Kot Lakhpat Jail in the northeastern city of Lahore, DawnNewsTV reported quoting NAB officials.

“Maryam Nawaz has been arrested,” Marriyum Aurangzeb, a PML-N spokeswoman confirmed. “NAB arrested her from Lahore and we haven’t been given any reason or grounds for her arrest."

It is unclear on what charges Nawaz was detained. She has led several anti-government protests in recent days.

NAB officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Nawaz is a suspect in a case regarding "dubious" business transactions at a sugar factory -- Chaudry Sugar Mills -- where she was one of the major shareholders.

Sharif is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence on corruption charges. His successor at the PML-N helm, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, has also been arrested on corruption charges. He denies wrongdoing.

The arrests have angered the opposition, who says the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has manipulated the justice system to get rid of its adversaries.

Earlier this month, PML-N officials came up with what they said was video evidence that the judge responsible for sentencing Sharif had been blackmailed into convicting the ex-premier.

The judge, who said the PML-N had also attempted to blackmail him, has since been fired from the court that decided the Nawaz case.

With reporting by Reuters and dawn.com