By Naveed Naqvi
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday directed the government to register an FIR on the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya and also set up a panel of judges to supervise an investigation into the incident.
“The FIR should be registered by tonight,” Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial ordered the authorities.
Outspoken journalist Sharif was shot and killed in October by Nairobi police while living in hiding in Kenya. Nairobi police said it was a case of “mistaken identity” during a search for a similar car involved in a child abduction case.
Rana Sanaullah, Interior minister however said Sharif was the victim of a targeted killing in Kenya, not an accidental shooting.
Sharif was considered close to the country’s military establishment. However, after the removal of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government in April through a parliamentary vote of no confidence, Sharif became critical of the military.
The Court said it had taken up the case voluntarily and was seeking responses from the foreign and interior ministries, the Federal Investigation Agency and Intelligence Bureau.
“The journalist community and the public at large are deeply distressed and concerned about the death of the senior journalist and are seeking the court’s scrutiny of the matter,” the court said in a statement.
A larger bench headed by Chief Justice Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar heard the case.
The Chief Justice Bandial, during the hearing, wondered why the court had not yet been provided with the inquiry report by the government’s fact-finding committee.
“A journalist was killed. It should be revealed who was behind the killing,” he said. “Why has the final report of the government-formed commission not been provided to the Supreme Court?” he asked.
The court asked the foreign office to submit a response to the court regarding the investigation and the registration of an FIR in Kenya.
Notices were also issued to the Foreign Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Secretary, heads of the Federal Investigation Agency and Intelligence Bureau, the interior secretary and president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the court’s move. “The government will extend full support to the court,” he said in a statement.
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