Pakistan: PTI writes to UN, calls for ‘independent’ investigation into journalist Arshad Sharif’s killing

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 10 (ANI): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has written to United Nations (UN) demanding an ‘independent’ investigation into the murder of journalist Arshad Sharif, who was killed in Kenya in October 2022, Ary News reported.
Taking to his official Twitter handle, PTI leader Murad Saeed said that lawmakers, including former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, have written to the UN calling for an independent investigation into Arshad Sharif’s killing. Murad Saeed tweeted, “Pakistani parliamentarians, including former Prime Minister Imran Khan, wrote to the United Nations demanding an independent investigation of the murder of Arshad Sharif. We are grateful to all those parliamentarians who joined the cause #UN_for_ArshadSharif.”

Senior journalist and former ARY News anchor was killed in Kenyan capital Nairobi on October 23 where he was living in self-exile. Kenyan police first said that Arshad Sharif was killed in a case of “mistaken identity.” Earlier in April, the Supreme Court (SC) hinted at setting up a judicial commission into the murder of senior journalist Arshad Sharif, as per the ARY News report.

According to the details, Pakistan Supreme Court has released the written verdict of the last hearing of the Arshad Sharif murder sou motu case. The written verdict mentioned that if the court is not satisfied with the probe, then a judicial commission will be established, as per the news report.
Arshad Sharif’s family counsel Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui raised objections to the court proceedings. Siddiqui said that the Supreme Court can monitor and investigate matters pertaining to basic rights but cannot monitor the probe of JIT. The written verdict said that the court has granted three more weeks to JIT to carry out the investigation abroad.

The killing of the Pakistan-based journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya was a case of “mistaken identity” and there was no conspiracy involved to murder him, an investigative report by the Kenyan authorities said, according to Geo News.
According to the report, Arshad Sharif was killed by four members of the para-military General Service Unit (GSU) in a random shootout in Kenya when the journalist was on his way to his penthouse, where he was living at that time.
The Kenyan account sticks to the police version, which states that the four guards were looking for a fleeing vehicle when Khurram Ahmed, the driver of Arshad jumped the police-erected barriers and caused them to shoot at Arshad Sharif’s automobile, as per the Geo News report.

According to the official report, the prosecution should file charges against two of the four GSU officers because they were found to have opened fire carelessly while using excessive force. As per the Geo News report, Arshad Sharif was not subjected to torture before or after the murder, according to the official investigation.