https://arab.news/6gwgu
- Arshad Sharif was fatally shot by the Kenyan police in 2022 after he went into exile due to sedition charges against him
- Kenyan court asked authorities to launch criminal proceedings against officers who shot him after examining evidence
ISLAMABAD: US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller emphasized the safety of journalists “around the world” on Tuesday after being asked about a recent verdict issued by a Kenyan court declaring the 2022 police killing of Pakistani anchor Arshad Sharif unlawful.
Sharif, who was widely viewed as critical of Pakistan’s powerful military and a staunch supporter of the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, left the country in August 2022 after sedition cases were filed against him.
He was fatally shot by the Kenyan police nearly two months later while traveling to Nairobi in a vehicle. The law enforcement officials in the African state described the shooting as a result of “mistaken identity.”
However, the Kenyan court ordered the authorities to launch criminal proceedings against the officers who shot the Pakistani journalist after examining the evidence in the case, according to the lawyer representing Sharif’s widow.
“I’m not aware of this case, so I’m not going to comment in any way specifically on it at all,” Miller said when asked about the Kenyan court’s verdict during his media briefing in Washington.
“But, of course, we support the work of journalists around the world,” he continued. “And we think that it’s important that they be able to do that job – their job safely.”
Sharif’s widow, Javeria Siddique, together with the Kenya Union of Journalists and Kenya Correspondents Association, filed a complaint last year against top Kenyan officials over the “arbitrary and unlawful killing” and their “failure to investigate.”
After a total of three hearings, the court reserved its verdict on May 8, which was subsequently announced on Monday.