Karachi - The former Pakistani prime minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, insisted he was innocent yesterday as he appeared at an anti-terrorism court, the first time he has been seen in public since he was ousted in a coup last month. Mr Sharif, who has been in detention since the army seized power, faces accusations of treason, conspiracy to murder, kidnapping and hijacking an aircraft.
"I did not conspire in a hijacking," Mr Sharif told the Karachi court during the 20-minute hearing. "Hijacking is done at gunpoint - in this case the whole democratic government has been hijacked." Mr Sharif appeared healthy and unhurt, although he told the closed-door hearing he has been kept in solitary confinement in often tough conditions.
Judge Rehmat Hussain Jafri remanded Mr Sharif in police custody until Monday. He has yet to be formally charged. Ironically it was Mr Sharif himself who set up the anti-terrorism courts, where cases are heard in just seven days.