By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A prominent Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif was shot and killed by police in Kenya on Sunday night in what they called a case of ‘mistaken identity’.
Kenyan police expressed regret over the incident, saying it was a case of “mistaken identity” during a search for a similar car involved in a case of child abduction. Sharif, living in hiding in Kenya, was killed by police after the car he was in sped up instead of halting at a roadblock on the Nairobi-Magadi highway for vehicles search.
Nairobi police said Sharif, traveling from the town of Magadi to the Kenyan capital with his brother Khurram Ahmed, was shot in the head. The two ignored police orders to stop and sped up. “They did not stop and proceeded with the journey,” the police said. Officers opened fire and pursued the vehicle, which overturned.
Sharif left Pakistan in August after complaining of harassment. He had previously been in the UK and Dubai before travelling to Kenya. He was a critic of Pakistan’s military as well as a vocal supporter of ousted prime minister Imran Khan.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke with Kenyan President William Ruto and asked him to ensure a fair and transparent investigation into the journalist’s killing, according to a government statement.
Nairobi police said the Independent Policing Oversight Authority will take over the case for further investigation.
President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Sharif the country’s military and other senior officials expressed their condolences.
Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party and its senior leaders, including Fawad Chaudhry, condemned Sharif’s killing and demanded a detailed investigation. Khan also visited Sharif’s residence in Islamabad to express his condolences to the family.
Later on Monday, dozens of journalists rallied in Islamabad over the killing and demanded justice for Sharif. “We don’t believe the version of the Kenyan police,” veteran journalist Hamid Mir said at the rally. He demanded an independent probe into the incident, saying there were contradictions in the statement of Kenyan police.
In a brief message on Twitter, Sharif’s wife Javeria Siddique said she 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”.
(Content courtesy newswires)
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