ISLAMABAD — A candidate for the party of Pakistan's ousted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been jailed for life by an anti-narcotics court, just days before a general election.

Hanif Abbasi, seen as a strong candidate for the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) in Wednesday's poll, was sentenced in a rare late-night session Saturday.

The six-year-old case was related to the supply of ephedrine to a drug smuggler.

Critics have long accused Pakistan's powerful military, including its Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, of meddling in politics and judicial affairs, a charge it denies.

Nawaz Sharif himself has accused the generals of targeting his party, including intimidating his candidates to switch allegiances — particularly in Punjab province.

Earlier Saturday an Islamabad High Court judge, Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, publicly accused the ISI of manipulating judicial decisions.

"ISI is fully involved in manipulating judicial process. ISI people get their choice of benches formed in the courts, cases are marked," he told lawyers in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The political involvement of the military and ISI is rarely discussed openly due to fear of repercussions. Rights defenders have long accused the ISI of kidnapping and torturing rights activists, journalists and dissenting voices.

Journalists in Pakistan say they have come under unprecedented pressure from the authorities before the election.

Speaking to Daily Express, Abbasi said that he was neither sorry nor disappointed by the judgment. “I will challenge the verdict in the high court,” he said. According to a TV channel, police officials took Abbasi into custody and escorted him through the door into the judge’s chamber, rather than using the court’s central gate.

Imran hails judiciary

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said Abbasi's conviction in the ephedrine case demonstrates strong and independent judiciary.

Addressing a public rally in Lahore, the PTI chairman hailed the court’s decision and said that Abbasi was given a life sentence for selling drugs.

“He was caught seven years ago but finally he was convicted today,” said Imran. “The trial of the former minister proves that the powerful people in Pakistan always had means to escape justice, as in the past the judiciary was afraid of convicting such people, but now this is no longer the case as the judiciary has become powerful and independent.”

Khan said that he was convinced after Abbasi’s arrest that all the corrupt people will end in jail. “We had leaders like Nawaz Sharif who is in jail for money laundering, Saad Rafique who is involved in the Paragon scandal and Khawaja Asif who is on a payroll of a Dubai-based company,” he added. — Agencies