KAJIADO (Kenya): Judge Stella Mutuku of High Court here, while rejecting the claim of Police that Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif’s killing in 2022 was a case of mistaken identity, ruled on Monday (8th July, 2024) that his murder was unconstitutional.

Maintaining that Kenya had violated his right to life, dignity, and freedom from torture, cruel, and degrading treatment, the court ordered the govt to pay Rs. 2 crore 17 lakh in compensation to Arshad Sharif’s widow Javeria Siddiqui (the co-petitioner).

“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,” noted Judge Stella Mutuka.

It may be recalled that Arshad Sharif (a supporter of Imran Khan’s PTI) who was facing a number of cases of sedition in various cities of Pakistan, left his country in the month of October, 2022. Following a sojourn in UAE he voyaged to Kenya where he was killed by Police.

Last October, Arshad Sharif’s widow (a journalist), Kenya Union of Journalists and Kenya Correspondents Association had jointly filed the lawsuit against the murder.

IFJ Adds: Kenyan High Court sitting in Kajiado ruled that the 2022 killing of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif by Kenyan law enforcement personnel was unlawful.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliates, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) in welcoming the decision, and urging authorities to ensure that those responsible are held to account.

Nearly two years after his killing near Nairobi, a Kenyan court found police had acted unlawfully in the October 2022 shooting of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif.

The ruling comes following nearly two years of advocacy from one of Sharif’s widows, Javeria Siddique, the PFUJ, KUJ, the Kenya Correspondents Association, and the media communities of Pakistan and Kenya.

In the ruling posted by Siddique to social media platform ‘X’, Justice S N Mutuku found that the use of legal force against Sharif was “arbitrary, unproportionate, unlawful and unconstitutional”.

Justice Mutuku further found that the Kenyan Independent Policing Oversight Authority and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions had violated Sharif’s constitutional rights by failing to conclude their investigations or prosecute two officers directly involved in the killing.

Geo TV reported in October 2023 that five officers involved in the journalist’s death were still receiving benefits from Kenyan authorities. The court ordered a payment of KSH 10,000,000, or approximately USD 77,000, to the journalist’s family.

The journalist was killed at a roadblock while driving to Nairobi, Kenya after officers in the General Service Unit, an armed branch of the Kenya Police Service fired nine shots into his vehicle. Kenyan police claimed the killing was due to a ‘mistaken identity’, and expressed regret for the incident.

Sharif fled Pakistan in 2022 following the registration of multiple sedition charges against him and his colleagues at Pakistani broadcaster ARY News. Sharif was known as an ardent supporter of former Prime Minister and founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan.

Javeria Siddique, one of Sharif’s wives, filed the lawsuit against Kenyan law enforcement and legal authorities in October 2023 seeking accountability, an apology, and the acceptance of responsibility for his killing. Proceedings in Pakistan faltered in March 2023, with investigators claiming Kenyan authorities had restricted access to case materials.

The KUJ said:“KUJ as one of the parties in the case welcomes the verdict and urges the government to move with speed and compensate the family as the court directed.”

The PFUJ said: “The Court decision has confirmed our stance that Arshad Sharif was murdered. While this has given justice at the initial stage, the real culprits behind this murder are yet to be determined.

“PFUJ President GM Jamali and Secretary General Rana Muhammad demand the authorities in Pakistan to investigate and hold the real culprits those responsible to account.

“The government must implement concrete measures so that such incidents are not repeated.”

The IFJ said: “While the Federation welcomes the court’s decision to grant the family of Arshad Sharif compensation, this is only a partial justice.

“Pakistani and Kenyan authorities must ensure that the terms of the ruling are executed in full, and that the police officers responsible for Arshad Sharif’s death do not escape with impunity.”

Newspakistan.tv