A widow of a Pakistani journalist who was shot dead by police in Kenya after he fled arrest in his home country filed a lawsuit against Kenyan police according to her lawyer.
Arshad Sharif, a strident critic of Pakistan’s powerful military establishment and supporter of former premier Imran Khan, died when Kenyan police opened fire on his car at a roadblock outside the capital Nairobi in October last year.
Javeria Siddique, one of Sharif’s two wives, told AFP in Islamabad last week that she was filing a lawsuit.
Her lawyer confirmed it had been lodged at Kenya’s High Court on Monday, October 23. This is close to a year to the day since the late-night killing of the journalist.
“Yes. The case has been filed,” lawyer Ochiel Dudley told AFP in Nairobi. The lawyer also added that they were waiting for a case number and further instructions from the court.
“It has been a year that I have been fighting for justice,” Siddique said.
“The Kenyan police admitted that they killed my husband but they have never apologized.”
‘Mistaken identity’
Last year, Kenyan officials said it was a case of mistaken identity. According to the officials, the officers believed they were firing on a stolen vehicle involved in an abduction.
Siddique, however, alleges her husband was killed in a “targeted attack.”
“I have written to the Kenyan president and foreign minister but they were not even kind enough to say sorry,” she added.
Sharif fled Pakistan in August 2022, days after interviewing a senior opposition politician who said junior officers in Pakistan’s military should disobey orders that went against “the will of the majority.”
Tens of thousands of mourners attended Sharif’s funeral at Islamabad’s main mosque.
‘Financial and emotional losses’
Pakistan has been ruled by the military for several decades of its 75-year history. However, criticism of the security establishment has long been seen as a red line.
Pakistan’s top court has taken note of the murder but the case is still pending.
In December, a factfinding team of Pakistani intelligence officials submitted a report to the Supreme Court calling the incident a “planned, targeted assassination” that purportedly involved “transnational characters.”
Press freedom campaign groups have called for those responsible to face justice.
Pakistan is ranked 150 out of 180 countries in a press freedom index compiled by Reporters without Borders, with journalists facing censorship and intimidation.
“Throughout the past year, I have endured financial and emotional losses and have even been subjected to character assassination,” Siddique said.
Police in Kenya are often accused by rights groups of using excessive force and carrying out unlawful killings.
Last year, President William Ruto disbanded a feared 20-year-old police unit accused of extrajudicial killings. The government further said it was embarking on reforms within the security sector.
