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ISLAMABAD, Dec 6 (PTI) Pakistani police on Tuesday registered an FIR against the killing of top journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya, hours after the Supreme Court directed the government to do so.
Sharif, 49, a former reporter and television anchor for ARY TV, set off a storm in Pakistan when he was shot dead at a police checkpoint an hour from Nairobi on October 23. Kenyan police later said it was a case of “misidentification” as they were looking for a similar car involved in a child trafficking case.
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The FIR has been registered with the Ramna police station in Islamabad to issue a report by tonight, as directed by the Supreme Court.
SHO Rasheed Ahmed lodged the complaint by nominating three individuals, including Waqar Ahmed, Khurram Ahmed and Tariq Ahmed Wasi.
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Sections 302 (Punishment for Murder) and 34 (Acts committed by multiple persons with common intent) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) have been incorporated into the FIR.
Earlier in the day, the five-judge panel, led by Chief Justice Bandir, ordered the home secretary to activate the FIR after the court was informed that no cases had been registered by Pakistan or Kenya.
“The FIR should be registered by tonight,” Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial ordered on Tuesday after a suo moto trial. The court then adjourned the hearing until Wednesday.
Sharif, known for his close ties to former prime minister Imran Khan, fled to Kenya earlier this year after being accused by Pakistani security agencies of sedition and peddling “anti-national” rhetoric.
During the hearing, CJP Bandial wondered why the court had not received the investigation report from the government’s fact-finding committee.
Another justice minister, Amir Rehman, assured the court that the report of the commission formed to investigate the murder would be presented on Wednesday, but the court asked for it to be submitted on Tuesday.
Rahman told the court that Home Minister Rana Sanaullah was in Faisalabad when the report was received. “Once the minister reviews the report, the report will be transferred to the Supreme Court,” he said.
The CJP then hit back, saying, “Does the Home Minister have to make changes to the report?” He also said the court could subpoena Sanaullah.
Bandial asserts that the investigation is the job of the government, not the judiciary.
Judge Assan commented that Sharif had been killed in Kenya under “suspicious circumstances” and asked what action the foreign ministry had taken. He also wondered whether there had been no registered cases of the incident in Pakistan or Kenya.
The court then asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to submit a response to the court regarding the investigation and FIR registration in Kenya.
“Journalists are voices of truth and sources of information,” commented the CJP.
The court also heard that Prime Minister Sheikh Baz Sharif had spoken to the Kenyan President and that the Pakistani High Commissioner in Kenya had been in touch with the relevant authorities, but the status of Kenya’s investigation was unclear.
Notifications have been sent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Directors of FBI and Intelligence, Minister of Home Affairs and President of Pakistan Federation of Journalists.
Interestingly, Pakistan Justice Movement (PTI) chief Khan recently wrote to CJP Bandial asking him to open an independent judicial inquiry into the killing of Sharif.
Sharif’s mother also wrote a letter to the CJP on November 2 requesting the formation of a high-powered judicial committee to investigate the murder.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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