Ex-Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif Moved to Islamabad Hospital

Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence, has been hospitalized after suffering heart problems.

Authorities on Sunday moved Sharif from Adiala prison in Rawalpindi to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (PIMS) in the capital, Islamabad, on the recommendation of doctors, Al Jazeera reported.

Shaukat Javed, a minister for Punjab province where the prison is located, told state media that doctors had examined Sharif, 68, after he complained of chest pains and that an electrocardiogram confirmed there were irregularities.

“How many days he stays in hospital depends on doctors,” Javed said in comments broadcast by the state-run PTV channel.

Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party said on Twitter that the former prime minister had agreed to be treated at the hospital after consulting with his personal doctor.

Wasim Khwaja, a spokesman for PIMS, said Sharif was being treated in the hospital’s cardiac center and that his condition was stable.

Extra police and paramilitary troops were deployed to assist hospital security, according to Khwaja.

On July 24, a medical board met to assess Sharif’s health and said he was in need of constant medical care, according to Pakistani media.

He is diabetic and has a history of heart problems, undergoing bypass surgery in 2016.

Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were convicted of corruption on June 6 in a case relating to the ownership of four luxury apartments in London.

They have been held at the high-security prison since July 13. A court will hear their appeals on July 31.