(17 Jul 2009) SHOT LIST:
1. Wide of Islamabad street
2. Various exterior shots of Pakistan's Supreme Court
3. Media and lawyers outside Supreme Court
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Tariq Mahmood, Prominent lawyer:
"....the decision is concerned its implications would be definitely very positive for the political system of the country so definitely a message has been passed on even to the military dictatorship because it happened for the first time because in the past whenever they tried to eliminate the political leadership even after the restoration of democracy that process was not reversed. It is for the first time that it has been reversed and the other thing is that it is good omen for this political system and it is for the civil rule in the country."
5. Mid of cameraman
6. Pull out of court decision papers
7. Wide exterior of Supreme Court++MUTE++
STORYLINE:
Pakistan's top court acquitted opposition leader Nawaz Sharif on Friday of hijacking charges stemming from the 1999 coup against his government, clearing the last obstacle to Sharif's running for office.
Sharif was banned from office after being found guilty of hijacking General Pervez Musharraf's plane in 1999.
He was prime minister at the time, while Musharraf was the head of Pakistan's army.
Sharif has insisted the ban was politically motivated.
In its ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court said there was no evidence to support the charge of hijacking and acquitted Sharif of the charges.
Prosecutor Shahadat Awan said the court's decision was unanimous.
The army ousted Sharif's government in a coup on October 12, 1999, the day Sharif removed Musharraf from his post as army chief.
Musharraf then took power, and Sharif went into exile in Saudi Arabia.
Sharif returned home in 2007 and later filed an appeal against his conviction in the hijacking case that barred him from holding office.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled Sharif was not eligible for office, prompting him to lead nationwide protests against the shaky government of President Asif Ali Zardari.
Friday's ruling was the third in the past two months to lift a ban on Sharif's participating in elections and paves the way for him to contest a parliamentary ballot scheduled for 2013.
Sharif, the country's most popular politician according to polls, has made no secret of his desire to return to his position as prime minister but
has said he does not want early elections.
Lawyers welcomed the development.
"It's implications would be definitely very positive for the political system of the country," a prominent lawyer Tariq Mahmood said, speaking outside the country's Supreme court.
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