A Kenyan court declares the shooting of a Pakistani journalist by police in Nairobi in 2022 unlawful

ISLAMABAD – A Kenyan court ruled on Monday that the killing of a Pakistani journalist by police in Nairobi in 2022 was illegal and unconstitutional, a lawyer and his family said.

In her ruling in Nairobi, Judge Stella Mutuku also criticized Kenya’s Attorney General and Director of Public Prosecutions for negligence in investigating the shooting of Arshad Sharif after police opened fire on his car at a road checkpoint.

Sharif’s family accuses an elite unit of the Kenyan police of deliberately killing Sharif. The 50-year-old journalist fled Pakistan earlier this year to avoid arrest in his homeland. He is accused of denigrating Pakistani institutions.

A panel of Pakistani investigators concluded in December 2022 that Sharif’s killing was a “planned assassination.” Their report suggested that the bullet that fatally wounded Sharif was fired either from the car or at close range.

Kenyan authorities are still investigating the murder and none of the police officers linked to the shooting have been arrested or charged.

In its ruling on Monday, the court ordered Kenyan authorities to drop their investigations into the officials. The court also ordered the government to compensate Sharif’s family 10 million Kenyan shillings ($78,000).

Dudley Ochiel, a lawyer for Sharif’s widow Javeria Siddique, said the verdict was a “huge victory for the man’s family and friends in Kenya, Pakistan and around the world.”

Ochiel said he expected prosecutors to file charges against two officers suspected of shooting Sharif at the roadblock.

The murder shocked Pakistan and days later thousands attended Sharif’s funeral.

Pakistan stated that no state institution was involved in his death.

Siddique, who filed a complaint against the Kenyan police along with Kenyan journalists’ unions, said she knew her husband would not come back, but “now at least everyone knows he was deliberately killed.”

Police initially attributed the shooting to a “case of mistaken identity” while searching for a similar car involved in a child abduction case.

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Musambi reported from Nairobi, Kenya.