ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Tuesday directed the government to keep journalists’ bodies on board while it investigates the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif reportedly at the hands of the Kenyan police on Sunday night.
The court, however, termed it premature to form a judicial commission on the assassination of journalist Arshad Sharif. A petition was filed with the IHC on Monday by Barrister Shoaib Razzaq requesting the court to order formation of a judicial commission to investigate why the journalist was forced to flee Pakistan, and later the United Arab Emirates.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice inquired whether anyone visited Arshad Sharif’s family and whether they need any legal assistance. The petitioner informed the court that Sharif’s dead body is being brought to Pakistan and the interior and foreign ministries were cooperating with the family.
He, however, requested the court to order formation of a judicial commission to probe the murder. He claimed that the government had asked for the repatriation of Sharif from the UAE. The court, however, declined his request noting that it would be premature to form any such commission.
Deputy Attorney General Syed Ahsan Raza Shah apprised the court that the report from the Kenyan government will come and if the petitioner has any objections to it, then the case can be heard again. The Chief Justice noted that the issue was a matter between two different countries, adding that state institutions can resolve the problem better. Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing of the case for a week.
Senior journalist and anchorperson Arshad Sharif was shot dead by the Kenyan police on Sunday night in a “mistaken identity” case while he was traveling to Nairobi from the country’s Magadi town. In this regard, the Chairperson of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, Kenya, Anne Makori held a press conference on Monday and confirmed that on the evening of October 23, a Pakistani journalist, named Arshad Muhammad Sharif, 50, was shot by the Kenyan police within the limits of Kajiado County.