A group of lawyers defending former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday recused themselves from his corruption trial in protest against the Supreme Court’s decision to fix July 10 as the date for the verdict in the matter.

The lawyers said the date was too close to the parliamentary elections and that they cannot work under such pressure. “We have decided not to pursue the trial because our request for an indefinite extension was rejected,” Sharif’s chief lawyer Khawaja Harris said, according to Al Jazeera.

Advertisement

The general elections in Pakistan are due for July 25. On June 10, the Supreme Court gave four weeks to the anti-corruption court to wrap up proceedings. The court also said that the judge was free to fix the timings of the hearings.

The former prime minister accused the chief justice of rushing through hearings in the three corruption cases against him. “Does the chief justice [Saqib Nisar] not know that justice rushed is justice crushed?” Sharif told reporters, according to Hindustan Times. “This last episode of the game that began with Panama [Papers] is an extremely unfortunate example of oppression and injustice.”

He also alleged that the court’s decision to fix the date of verdict a fortnight before the elections was tantamount to pre-poll rigging. “Everyone knows what ‘wrap this up in four weeks’ means,” The Express Tribune quoted him as saying. “July 10 is right before the elections. If this isn’t pre-poll rigging, then what is? The Supreme Court is influencing the case before the general elections.”

Advertisement

The former prime minister has also said that it was impossible for any lawyer to review thousands of pages of case files in such a short time in order to represent him in the court properly. “Such an environment is being created that I am deprived of a legal counsel as well,” he added, according to Geo TV.

In July 2017, Sharif quit as prime minister after the Supreme Court disqualified him from the post because of corruption charges against him and his family in the Panama Papers case. The court later also disqualified him from holding office for life another public office.