Controversial Pakistan judge Arshad Malik dies of coronavirus

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's controversial former judge Arshad Malik, who convicted deposed premier Nawaz Sharif and was subsequently sacked over a video scandal, died on Friday due to the coronavirus.

He was 47.

Malik, the anti-corruption court's former judge, was on a ventilator in Islamabad's Shifa International Hospital for the past two days.

His brother-in-law Waheed Javed told the media that Malik died on Friday and would be buried in his native area near Rawalpindi.

He is survived by two sons and two daughters.

Malik convicted three-time prime minister Sharif in December 2018 in the Al Azizia case and sentenced him to seven years in jail but he acquitted the former prime minister in the Flagship corruption case.

However, a video of his conversation surfaced a few months after the conviction, showing Judge Malik talking to a supporter of Sharif and confessing that he passed the judgment under duress.

Later, it turned out that the judge also met Sharif in Lahore after convicting him in the corruption case.

In the video, he was seen discussing how to prepare an appeal against the conviction.

Sharif's supporters called for his acquittal after the video surfaced.

A probe against judge Malik was launched and he was sacked in July 2020 by the Lahore High Court's administration committee on charges of misconduct.

Sharif's appeal against the conviction is with the Islamabad High Court which declared him a proclaimed offender on Wednesday for failing to appear for its hearing.

The issue of Malik's video was sure to come up during the arguments in the court.

Sharif, 70, has been in London since November last year after the Lahore High Court granted him permission to go abroad for four weeks for treating a heart ailment and an immune system disorder.