PML-N demands Shahbaz Sharif be released after 'win' against Daily Mail

• PML-N's Marriyum Aurangzeb says London court's decision in Daily Mail case "a testimony of the innocence of Shehbaz Sharif"
• Aurangzeb demands apology from PM Imran Khan and "his rented spokespeople"
• PML-N spokesperson accuses premier of orchestrating "this false interview"

LAHORE: The PML-N has demanded the release of party president and former chief minister of Punjab, Shehbaz Sharif, after he and his son-in-law Imran Ali Yousaf won the first round of a defamation case against the UK's Daily Mail newspaper.

In a statement issued Friday night, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said the London court's decision in the Daily Mail defamation case "is a testimony of the innocence of Shehbaz Sharif and Imran sahab [Prime Minister Imran Khan] being a proven liar".

"The soot on the blackened faces of those who slandered Shehbaz Sharif's honesty has increased," Aurangzeb said, adding that the party and its workers thanked God for the ruling.

Read more: Shehbaz Sharif, Imran Yousaf win first round of defamation case against Daily Mail

She also demanded an apology from PM Imran Khan and "his rented spokespeople", saying the London court ruled that the PML-N president had been "severely defamed" under the British law.

The judge remarked that the Daily Mail had published news against the former Punjab chief minister based on lies and assumptions, she said, asking who would avenge the disgrace brought to Pakistan "by you through political revenge and jealousy".

The PML-N spokesperson also lambasted those who had "waved fake papers", asking why PM Imran Khan's aide on accountability, Barrister Mirza Shahzad Akbar, had not presented those documents in the London court.

Also read: Daily Mail pays millions in damages for defamatory article on British-Pakistani man

"Those who have no self-respect, their only job is to malign the honorable people," she added, claiming Shahzad Akbar had benefited through commissions from the controversial Broadsheet LLC.

Aurangzeb accused the premier of orchestrating "this false interview" and said all of "your lies will end up like this".

"Whenever justice and fairness prevailed, the PML-N leadership emerged with its head high. Those who sent PML-N leaders to jail went to the prison themselves.

Related: Shahbaz sues reporter David Rose, Mail on Sunday in UK high court

"Imran Khan has been absconding for the past five years in a Rs10-billion defamation case filed by Shehbaz Sharif. Imran Khan's lies will be exposed in this defamation case in Pakistan."

Earlier today, the PML-N president and his son-in-law, Imran Ali Yousaf, won the first round of a defamation case against the Daily Mail for an article the London court ruled contained words that were a source of damage to the defendants' reputation.

In an initial ruling, London High Court Justice Matthew Nicklin observed that the words used in the Daily Mail journalist David Rose-authored article could be considered slanderous.

The judge termed the article against Sharif and Yousaf "Chase Level 1 defamation" — or the highest form of defamation.