Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani

Imprisonment

Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani

Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani was arrested on 11 February 2001, under the auspices of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), an anti-corruption agency, set up by the military government in 1999, over charges that he misused his authority while he was Speaker of the National Assembly. Specifically, he was accused of hiring up to 600 people from among his constituents and placing them on the government's payroll. The NAB claimed that Gillani inflicted a loss of Rs 30 million annually on the national exchequer. He was convicted by an anti-corruption court formed by Musharraf and spent nearly six years in prison.

The legal proceedings were perceived by many as politically motivated; his party, the PPP, was in opposition to Musharraf, who had embarked on a campaign to coerce party members to switch sides. Thus his conviction by Musharraf-backed courts and subsequent prison sentence are seen as marks of loyalty within the PPP. His imprisonment was widely condemned by various individuals across the country, including Mushahid Hussain Syed, a senior leader of the PML-Q. He was released on 7 October 2006 from Adiala Jail, after spending more than five years in captivity.