Pakistani police on Tuesday registered an FIR against the killing of senior journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya, hours after the Supreme Court directed the government to do so. Sharif, 49, a former ARY TV reporter and anchor, was shot dead at a police checkpoint an hour from Nairobi on October 23, sparking an uproar in Pakistan. Kenyan police later said it was a case of “mistaken identity” in the search for a similar car involved in a child abduction case.
An FIR has been registered at the Ramna police station in Islamabad following directions from the apex court to release the report by tonight. The complaint was filed by SHO Rasheed Ahmed on the nomination of three persons including Waqar Ahmed, Khurram Ahmed and Tariq Ahmed Wasi. Sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 34 (acts committed by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) were included in the FIR.
Earlier in the day, a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Bandial directed the home minister to initiate an FIR after the court was informed that no case had been registered in Pakistan or Kenya. “The FIR should be registered by this evening,” Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial ordered on Tuesday after taking suo moto cognizance. The court then adjourned the hearing until Wednesday.
Sharif, known for his closeness to former prime minister Imran Khan, fled to Kenya after being charged by Pakistani security agencies with sedition and spreading an “anti-state” story earlier this year. During the hearing, CJP Bandial wondered why the inquiry report of the government inquiry committee had not yet been provided to the court. Additional Attorney General Amir Rehman assured the court that the report of the committee set up to investigate the murder would be submitted by Wednesday, but the court demanded that the report be submitted on Tuesday.
Rehman informed the court that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah was in Faisalabad at the time of receiving the report. “The report will be forwarded to the apex court once the minister examines it,” he said. The court then asked the foreign office to submit a reply to the court regarding the investigation and registration of the FIR in Kenya. “Journalists are the voice of truth and also the source of information,” the CJP observed.
The court was also informed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had spoken to the Kenyan President and that Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Kenya was in touch with the relevant authorities, but the status of the investigation in Kenya was not known. Notices were issued to the Foreign Secretary, the Information and Broadcasting Secretary, the heads of the Federal Investigation Agency and the Intelligence Bureau, the Interior Minister and the President of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists.
Interestingly, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan recently wrote to CJP Bandial asking him to conduct an independent judicial inquiry into Sharif’s murder. Sharif’s mother also wrote a letter to the CJP on November 2 demanding the formation of a high-powered judicial commission to probe the murder.
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