Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif addressed a much-awaited press conference on Tuesday, two days after returning from London where he had been attending to his ailing spouse.

The press conference followed an appearance earlier in the day at a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court hearing references against him and his family as ordered by the Supreme Court in its decision on the Panama Papers case.

Stressing that he had left the country "in an emergency" due to his wife's ailment — the details of which, he said, were widely known — Nawaz said his inner circle knew all along that he would return and that the arrangements in this regard were already in place.

"I have ignored all threats," he claimed. "In September ten years ago — on the same PIA flight, PK 786 — when I returned to Pakistan, I was not allowed to leave the Islamabad airport," he recalled.

Explore: The rise and fall of Nawaz Sharif

"Fleeing from the courts is not our way. We respect the Constitution and the courts. I have [in the past] worn handcuffs and been arrested. I have experienced the implementation of law and justice during a military regime," he said.

Turning to the matter at hand — his ouster following the Panama Papers case — Sharif claimed that "when they could not find proof [of his wrongdoing], they made a joint investigation team. The same courts and judges announced the decision and told NAB to open references."

"Then the same court took control of NAB," he alleged. "If necessary, this same court will listen to my last appeal as well."

"Is this how justice works?" he asked. "Is this what we call the rule of law? Does Article 10 [of the Constitution] say this — is this what it means by a fair trial?"

"This is the first case that the weight of the law was placed with the petitioner, and the rights of the defence were not implemented," he alleged.

"No accusation was proved — they were not able to prove any corruption. But they had to disqualify me and so the iqama was used," he alleged.

Also read: The technicality that led to Nawaz Sharif's disqualification

"They said because you were to be punished due to [the] Panama [Papers], the iqama was used. They should have told the people that since nothing was found in the Panama case, we therefore used the iqama as a reason."

"When legal experts themselves did not accept the decision, what could I do? These decisions were passed, punishments were given — but they were not accepted."

"The decision on my first appeal [to the verdict] was given by the thousands who came out to support the GT Road rally," he said. "Then the second appeal was responded to by the people of NA-120."

"These decisions will keep coming," he claimed, "and one big decision will come in 2018."

"I faced the 'Panama drama' — a case in which the entire burden of proof was placed on us. Me and my children faced the JIT, but there were elements who had conducted their own inquiries. There were some against whom the Supreme Court itself cannot take any action," he alleged.

"Today, I have faced the accountability courts and I am clean. I believe that God and the people of Pakistan are with me, and I hope that, somewhere, justice is alive."

"The whole country is being punished — the people and the generations to come. They have made a mockery of a progressive Pakistan on the track of democracy. I appeal that this country be allowed to progress in line with the Constitution. If the Constitution gives the people the right to govern, let them realise that right."

"Let the decision of qualification and disqualification rest with the people — do not take that right from them. Our history is full of bad decisions that are painful to recall. The time has come to cure this 70-year cancer."

"I am the victim of a case based on lies, and I am bearing the punishments for it."

"My other case is for honesty — for the Quaid's Pakistan. The people's case, the Constitution's case, democracy's case and the case for democratic rule. I am taking up that case and I will continue to fight it. I believe that the people of Pakistan will win."

"The entire country knows that the reason for my disqualification is the salary I did not take from my son... I wish that those who counted my assets had looked at the assets in my political account," he said, before going into a long list of his 'achievements' as prime minister.

"I know what crime I am being punished for," he said, invoking the widely-held belief that he had run afoul of the 'establishment'. "I know what my real crime is and I will continue to stand with my country," he said.

"I will not let my family's problems become my country's problems. I am grateful to the party workers who have stood by us. If the PML-N is successful in 2018, we will not let the country's direction change."

"I will make whatever sacrifices necessary for this country," he said, concluding his speech.