Nawaz Sharif, a former Pakistani prime minister, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in a corruption case linked to the purchase of luxury London flats.
The decision by a Pakistani anti-corruption court is a major blow to his party ahead of a general election in July.
The guilty verdict in absentia against the 68-year-old threatens to end the career of one Pakistan's most high-profile politicians over the last four decades, a political survivor who served as prime minister on three occasions.
His daughter, Maryam, widely seen as his chosen political heir, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Maryam's husband and PML-N lawmaker Muhammad Safdar was sentenced to one year in prison, prosecution lawyer Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi said.
Both Sharif and his daughter were in London on Friday with Sharif's wife, Kulsoom, who is being treated there for cancer and is in a coma after suffering a heart attack last month.
The court case centred on upscale London flats that the Sharifs say they bought through legitimate means.
But the National Accountability Bureau has alleged the family has been unable to explain how it paid for them.
The family have denied wrongdoing and are expected to appeal.
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