Arshad Sharif, an outspoken Pakistani investigative journalist critical of the country’s powerful military has been killed in Kenya nearly two months after he left Pakistan.
He was allegedly shot dead by the police at a roadblock in Kajiado county, near the capital of Nairobi, Kenya on Sunday.
BBC reported that Sharif had previously been in the UK and Dubai, UAE before travelling to Kenya where the police said he was ‘fatally wounded’ as a passenger in a moving vehicle.
“I lost friend, husband and my favourite journalist today, as per police he was shot in Kenya,” Javeria Siddique tweeted about her husband Arshad Sharif’s death on Sunday night.
The 49-year-old journalist fled the country in August to avoid arrest after he was slapped with multiple cases, including sedition charges over an interview with Shahbaz Gill – a close aide of former prime minister Imran Khan – during which Gill made comments deemed offensive to the military.
The channel ARY for which Sharif worked for the last eight years was briefly taken off air in August for airing “false, hateful and seditious” content. The channel announced late August it was parting ways with the journalist, who was one of its top prime-time news anchors.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its “sadness” at Arshad Sharif’s death, adding in the statement said that they were in touch with Kenyan officials regarding the matter.
The ministry confirmed that Pakistan’s envoy to Kenya along with embassy officials had identified the body at the Chiromo Funeral House in Nairobi and are now awaiting further procedures and a police report.
“The High Commission will facilitate expeditious repatriation of mortal remains of Mr. Sharif in coordination with the host authorities,” the statement read.
Kenyan media has quoted local police officials who said the shooting was a case of “mistaken identity”.
Following his death last night, the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) said the “alleged police killing of a Pakistani national” would be investigated as it had sent a rapid response team to the scene of the murder.
“The deceased’s motor vehicle came upon the police barrier which they drove through. It is then that they were shot at,” the Kenyan police statement said.
Meanwhile, journalists on Monday flooded the streets of Karachi, Pakistan to protest the death of their colleague.
The Islamabad High Court has issued notice to authorities to present them with a report regarding the circumstances of the death at the earliest.
Sharif, who was once considered close to Pakistan’s powerful military establishment, turned into a fierce critic after the removal of former Prime Minister Khan’s government in April.
Reacting to Sharif’s death, Pakistan’s PM, Shehbaz Sharif tweeted that he was “deeply saddened by the shocking news of journalist Arshad Sharif’s tragic death.”
He also said he spoke to Kenya’s President William Ruto demanding a fair and transparent investigation.
He promised all-out help including fast-tracking the process of return of the body to Pakistan.”
Imran Khan in his reaction on Twitter said: “Shocked at the brutal murder of Arshad Sharif who paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth – his life. He had to leave the country & be in hiding abroad but he continued to speak the truth on social media, exposing the powerful. Today the entire nation mourns his death.
“A proper judicial investigation must be instituted to examine his own statements plus evidence that other sources have. We have descended into a state of brutality, unknown in civilised society, indulged in by the powerful against those who dare to criticise & expose wrongdoings.
“My prayers and condolences go to his grief stricken family.”