Arshad Sharif Murder Case: Kenyan Authorities are not Cooperating, asks SC

The Supreme Court said in a statement that the Kenyan authorities were reluctant to cooperate with the Special Joint Investigation Team (SJIT) of Pakistan in the investigation of the murder case of senior journalist Arshad Sharif. Additional Attorney General (AAG) Chaudhry Amir Rehman presented the progress report before a five-judge bench. Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial led the bench. He revealed that the Kenyan authorities had charged two police officials with the use of excessive force.

Arshad Sharif Murder Case: Kenyan Authorities are not Cooperating, asks SC

AAG Rehman said that the SJIT members could not investigate any individual nor were they allowed to inspect the crime scene. He admitted that the investigation team did not obtain any new or tangible material or evidence in Kenya.

He said that the SJIT was also not given access to brothers Khurram and Waqar, who sponsored and hosted Sharif, in the east African country. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif requested the Kenyan president on a telephone call in January but Kenya had yet to respond.

The AAG maintained that Kenya was a friendly country. The Tribune reported that Pakistan could not take any action which could affect the bilateral cooperation on international issues.

Sitting on the bench, Justice Ijazul Ahsan urged that the United Nations should be involved in the matter. He also asked the SJIT whether they had investigated the circumstances which caused the journalist to flee Pakistan.

Arshad Sharif was shot and killed by police in Kenya on October 23, 2022. A fact-finding committee report said that the murder of Sharif was a “planned and targeted assassination” by transnational characters and not a case of mistaken identity, as claimed by the police in Kenya.

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