Islamabad, February 13, 2023: The Supreme Court of Pakistan is set to take up the suo motu notice of the assassination of prominent journalist and anchorperson, Arshad Sharif, which took place in Kenya last year. A five-member bench, led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, will begin hearing the case at 1pm today.
The chief justice has taken this suo motu notice to ensure that an independent and transparent investigation is carried out in the case. The bench also comprises of Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.
The court has issued notices to various high-ranking officials and authorities including the interior secretary, director-general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), attorney general for Pakistan, foreign secretary, president of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), director-General of Intelligence Bureau (IB), Information Secretary Sheikh Mahmood Ahmad, among others.
According to media reports, the special joint investigation team (JIT), formed to investigate the murder, will submit its report to the Supreme Court today. The team returned to Pakistan last week after completing its inquiry in Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The journalist was shot dead by Kenyan police on October 23, 2022, in a case of “mistaken identity” while he was travelling from Magadi town to the capital Nairobi. The Kenyan police initially claimed that the journalist was shot in a case of mistaken identity, however, further details that emerged later contradicted those claims.
In response to the Supreme Court’s orders, the federal government formed a new special joint investigation team (JIT) on December 8, 2022. The team included members from various intelligence agencies and police departments, including the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), IB, FIA, and the Islamabad Police. The members included Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Intelligence Branch Sajid Kiyani, FIA’s Waqarauddin Syed, DIG Headquarters Owais Ahmed, Murtaza Afzal from the Military Intelligence, and Muhammad Aslam from the ISI.
This case has drawn widespread attention and concern from media organizations and journalists’ rights groups, who are calling for a thorough investigation into the matter to bring the perpetrators to justice. The hearing at the Supreme Court today is seen as a crucial step towards achieving this goal.
