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Tag: Arshad Sharif

  • Court rules a $78k compensation for widow of murdered Pakistani journalist by Kenya police

    Court rules a $78k compensation for widow of murdered Pakistani journalist by Kenya police

    In a significant ruling, a Kenyan court has granted 10 million shillings ($78,000; £61,000) in compensation to the widow of a well-known Pakistani journalist who was fatally shot by police at a roadblock almost two years ago.

    Arshad Sharif, a prominent TV anchor renowned for his outspoken criticism of Pakistan’s military leaders and political corruption, had previously raised concerns about death threats he received, which he brought to the attention of Pakistan’s chief justice.

    Fearing for his safety, Sharif fled his homeland and sought refuge abroad.

    Tragically, Sharif was killed by police in the Kenyan town of Kajiado two months later, sparking widespread outrage. Criticism mounted over the delayed response from authorities, prompting condemnation from UN experts directed at both Kenya and Pakistan.

    ‘A relief to me and my family’

    Kenya’s police initially claimed mistaken identity, but Javeria Siddique, widow of the slain journalist Arshad Sharif, asserts it was a targeted assassination orchestrated on behalf of an unidentified individual in Pakistan.

    In a landmark decision on Monday, the Kajiado High Court declared the actions of Kenyan authorities unlawful, citing violations of Sharif’s fundamental right to life. The court subsequently ordered compensation for Ms. Siddique, along with accrued interest until the full payment is made.

    “Loss of life cannot be compensated in monetary terms nor is the pain and suffering the family must have gone through. But there’s consensus that compensation is appropriate remedy for redress in violation of fundamental rights,” said Justice Stella Mutuku as she delivered the verdict.

    The judge’s decision included findings that Kenya’s director of public prosecutions and the independent policing oversight authority had neglected their duties by not prosecuting the two police officers implicated in Sharif’s death. T

    he court has mandated both organizations to swiftly conclude investigations and formally press charges against the officers involved.

    The lawyer representing Sharif’s widow, Ochiel Dudley, said “This is a win for the family and a win for Kenyans in their quest for police accountability”.

    Sharif’s widow, Ms Siddique, expressed her gratitude to the Kenyan judiciary but added that her work was far from done.

    “This ruling has come as a relief to me and my family, but I will not relent in getting maximum justice for my husband,” she said.

    Like her late husband, Ms Siddique is a journalist and filed the lawsuit alongside the Kenya Union of Journalists and Kenya Correspondents Association last October.

    She and her co-petitioners were seeking transparency, an apology, and accountability from the Kenyan authorities for what they called Sharif’s “targeted assassination”.

    In an interview with the BBC, she expressed frustration over the lack of justice for her husband in Pakistan but affirmed her commitment to advocate for journalist safety.

    She plans to engage international bodies like the UN and the Committee to Protect Journalists in her ongoing efforts.

  • Minister: Killing of Pakistani journalist in Kenya was ‘targeted’ attack, minister says

    A Pakistani journalist killed by police in Kenya last month was the victim of a “targeted killing,” according to a senior member of Pakistan’s government, who did not provide any evidence to back up his claim.

    On October 23, television journalist Arshad Sharif, a vocal critic of the Pakistani military, was killed in a police shooting near Nairobi, Kenya.

    Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters an initial assessment by a two-member fact finding team that traveled to Kenya on behalf of the Pakistani government was “that Arshad Sharif was killed in a case of targeted killing.” More evidence was needed “to confirm all this,” he said.

    Sanaullah’s comments appear to contradict earlier accounts from Kenyan authorities that Sharif was shot dead by police responding to reports of a stolen vehicle in a case of mistaken identity.

    The Pakistani interior minister also accused Kenyan police of “not cooperating” with the fact-finding team, saying “important data” about the case had not been handed over by Kenyan authorities. A formal request to obtain the information had been lodged, he added.

    Kenyan police told CNN they were unaware Pakistani officials had made any allegations about non-cooperation. “We haven’t received any such complaints, which if any, will have to be made formally,” police spokesperson Isohi Shioso said.

    Shioso said the case is being handled by police watchdog the Independent Policing Oversight Authority. CNN has reached out to the watchdog for comment.

    Sharif fled Pakistan in August after sedition charges were leveled against him for allegedly criticizing state institutions and “abetting mutiny” within the military.

    Those allegations followed Sharif’s interview with opposition politician Shahbaz Gill, a close ally of Imran Khan, the ousted former Prime Minister who was shot last week in murky circumstances during a protest rally in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

    Following the interview, Pakistani police also charged Gill with sedition, claiming he had made “anti-state comments.”

    Sharif’s television news channel ARY initially claimed it was “being hounded by the present regime,” but later cut its ties with the journalist after it was taken off air for about a month by Pakistani media regulators.

    Earlier, a close friend of Sharif told CNN the journalist had to “flee Pakistan in August to save his life.” He had initially gone to Dubai but was forced to flee again due to “harassment by Pakistani officials,” the associate said.

    The associate said Sharif then went to Kenya and had only been in the East African country for a few weeks before his death.

  • Pakistan demands investigation into killing of journalist Arshad Sharif

    Pakistan’s spy chief and military spokesman demanded an independent investigation into the mysterious killing of journalist Arshad Sharif in Nairobi. The government will send a team of civilian investigators to Kenya.

    Thousands of people Thursday (Oct 27) mourned the death of an outspoken Pakistani journalist in the capital.

    Arshad Sharif, 50, was killed Sunday night (Oct 23) when the car he was in sped up and drove through a checkpoint outside Nairobi.

    His body was flown home Wednesday (Oct 26) and his funeral took place Thursday in Islamabad. The killing has drawn widespread condemnation in Pakistan.

    Pakistan has not launched its own investigation into the killing of the journalist. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan has said, however, that the government will soon send a two-member team of civilian investigators to Kenya to determine the circumstances surrounding the journalist’s death.

    Police in Kenya’s capital have issued contradictory statements deepening the mystery behind Sharif’s death. Initially, they expressed regret over the incident, saying it was a case of “mistaken identity.” They said Sharif was killed during a search for a similar car involved in a child abduction case.

    Later, police said someone opened fire from Sharif’s car, wounding a police officer and officers shot back.

    Grey areas

    Sharif’s family, his friends and Pakistani government officials are demanding a fair investigation. Sharif left Pakistan in August to avoid arrest following a citizen’s complaint against him alleging he maligned the country’s national institutions. Most of his friends until his death only knew that he was in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

    Sharif’s employer — the private ARY Television in Pakistan — had fired him in August, saying he had violated the TV station’s social media policy. His talk show POWERPLAY, which aired on Mondays and Thursdays, was discontinued.

    As more than 15,000 mourners gathered for Sharif’s funeral at the country’s largest Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, the country’s spy chief, and military spokesman Lt. Gen.

    Babar Iftikhar, demanded an investigation. It was the first time in the country’s history that its spy chief took part in a news conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

    “Arshad did not want to leave but he was told that his life is in danger,” Iftikhar said. Among the questions were why Sharif was in Kenya, where he was traveling with another Pakistani resident, Khurram Ahmed, when their car failed to stop despite being flagged down at the checkpoint.

    Anjum, the spy chief, said at the news conference his agency was deliberately distancing itself from any domestic investigation as he wanted an independent probe to accurately conclude why Sharif left Pakistan in September when there was no threat to his life, and why he did not come back after his Dubai visa expired in September.

     

    Source: African News

  • Murdered Pakistani journalist’s body leaves Kenya

    Pakistani media outlet Dunya News has announced that where he worked before leaving the country in August, the body of well-known Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif, who was killed by Kenyan police on Sunday, is on its way home.

    His body is expected to arrive in Islamabad later on Tuesday afternoon after a stopover in Doha, Qatar.

    The journalist will be cremated on Thursday at a cemetery in Islamabad, his widow Jawaria Siddique is quoted as saying.

    Mr Sharif was “fatally wounded” while he was a passenger in a moving vehicle after it failed to stop at a roadblock, according to the Kenya police.

    Officers had set up the roadblock as they were looking for a stolen car.

     

  • Arshad Sharif death: A prominent Pakistani journalist shot in Kenya

    An investigation has been launched in Kenya following the death of well-known Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif by police at a roadblock on Sunday.

    According to a police statement, he was “fatally wounded” while a passenger in a moving vehicle that failed to stop.

    Mr Sharif was an outspoken supporter of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan as well as a critic of Pakistan’s military.

    The 49-year-old had left Pakistan in August after complaining of harassment.

    He had previously been in the UK and Dubai before travelling to Kenya. It is not known exactly what he was doing in the East African country.

    Journalists in the Pakistani city of Karachi held a street protest over his killing on Monday.

    Journalists protesting in Karachi, 24 October
    IMAGE SOURCE,EPA Image caption, Journalists protested in Karachi

    Kenya’s police watchdog – the Independent Police Oversight Authority (Ipoa) – said it had sent its rapid response team to the site of Sunday evening’s shooting in Kajiado county near the capital, Nairobi.

    The team will be investigating the “alleged police killing of a Pakistani national”, Ipoa chairperson Ann Makori told journalists.

    A police statement said it regretted the “unfortunate incident”.

    Officers had set up the roadblock as they were looking for a stolen car. “[The] deceased’s motor vehicle came upon the police barrier which they drove through. It is then that they were shot at,” the statement added.

    Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (no relation) tweeted that he was “deeply saddened by the shocking news of journalist Arshad Sharif’s tragic death”.

    He later said that he had spoken to Kenya’s President William Ruto requesting a “fair and transparent investigation… He promised all-out help including fast-tracking the process of return of the body to Pakistan.”

    Pakistan’s Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb warned people against speculating about the circumstances surrounding the death.

    In a brief message on Twitter, Sharif’s wife Javeria Siddique said she had lost a “friend, husband and my favourite journalist”.

    Calling for a “proper judicial investigation”, former Prime Minister Khan said he was “shocked” at what he described as a “murder”, adding that he “paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth”.

    Mr Khan was removed from power in April after losing a vote of no confidence. Sharif, who had backed Mr Khan, then started complaining that the country’s Federal Investigation Agency was harassing him and he left the country.

     

  • Pakistani journalist shot dead in Kenya

    Renowned Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif has been shot dead in Kajiado county, which neighbours the capital Nairobi.

    Police in Kenya have confirmed that he passed away on Sunday.

    Local media say he was shot at a roadblock on the Nairobi-Magadi highway in a case of mistaken identity.

    Police spokesperson Bruno Shioso says they are investigating the circumstances behind Mr Sharif’s death.

    Mr Sharif’s wife Javeria Siddique tweeted on Monday that she had ” lost [a] friend, husband and my favourite journalist”.

    Pakistan President Arif Alvi said “Arshad Sharif’s death Is a great loss to journalism and Pakistan. May his soul rest in peace and may his family, which includes his followers, have the strength to bear this loss”.