A senior official in Pakistan’s government claimed on Tuesday that a Pakistani journalist who was killed by police in Kenya last month was the victim of a “targeted killing” without providing any supporting evidence.
Arshad Sharif, a television journalist who frequently criticized the Pakistani military, passed away on October 23 in a police shooting close to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
According to the Pakistani government’s two-person fact-finding team that visited Kenya, Arshad Sharif “was slain in a case of targeted killing,” Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters. ” He claimed that additional proof was required “to corroborate all this.”
Sanaullah’s remarks appear to be at odds with earlier claims made by Kenyan officials that Sharif was fatally shot by police in a case of mistaken identity after they responded to complaints of a stolen car.
The Kenyan police, according to the Pakistani interior minister, “did not cooperate” with the fact-finding team by withholding “critical data” related to the case. He said that a formal request had been made to get the data. Kenyan police told CNN they were not aware of any accusations of non-cooperation from Pakistani officials. Police spokesperson Isohi Shioso stated, “We haven’t received any such complaints, which, if any, will have to be lodged properly.”
According to Shioso, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, a police oversight organization, is handling the issue. The watchdog has been contacted by CNN for comment.
After being charged with sedition for allegedly insulting government institutions and “abetting mutiny” within the military, Sharif left Pakistan in August. These accusations came after Sharif spoke with Shahbaz Gill, a prominent opposition politician and close friend of Imran Khan, the ousted former prime minister who was fatally shot last week during a protest demonstration in Pakistan’s Punjab state.
Pakistani authorities also accused Gill of sedition after the interview, saying he had made “anti-state statements.”
When forced off the air for roughly a month by Pakistani media authorities, Sharif’s television news channel ARY originally claimed it was “being hunted by the existing regime.” However, it later severed connections with the journalist.
The journalist had to “flee Pakistan in August to save his life,” a close friend of Sharif had earlier told CNN. The colleague claimed that after originally traveling to Dubai, he was once more forced to leave because of “abuse by Pakistani officials.”
The associate claimed that after that, Sharif traveled to Kenya, where he resided for barely a few weeks before passing away.
