One month since Arshad Sharif, the renowned Pakistani journalist death was reported in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kajiado, the Kenyan and Pakistani authorities have not concluded their reports, neither have there been any arrests in the case nor brought to account the perpetrators of the heinous act to account.
According to a two-member fact-finding Pakistani investigators under Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Athar Waheed and Intelligence Bureau’s (IB) Omar Shahid Hamid, set up by the Pakistani government who travelled to Kenya, conducted a number of interviews, examined and reconstructed the crime scene and examined the deceased’s phones and computers to probe the killing believes it was a case of pre-meditated murder.
In a report submitted to Pakistan’s Supreme Court, the team revealed damning contradictions in the version given by Kenyan authorities.
“Both the members of the (fact-finding team) have a considered understanding that it is a case of planned targeted assassination with transnational characters rather than a case of mistaken identity,” the report revealed.
The fact-finding study claims that Khurram, the driver of the vehicle in which the killed senior journalist Sharif was found in, made contradictory statements and that the Kenyan police did little to aid in the investigations.
“It is more probable that the firing was done, after taking proper aim, at a stationary vehicle,” part of the statement read.
Prior reports by Kenyan authorities had suggested that it was a case of mistaken identity but later changed to the tune that shots were fired from the journalist’s car after police hunting car thieves opened fire from the vehicle he was in as it drove through a roadblock without stopping.
This clearly demonstrates that the Kenyan police issued conflicting statements following the cold-blooded killing.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) of Kenya began an investigation; the findings have not yet been made public.
The police claims have been questioned by Pakistan’s interior minister, who said earlier this month that it was a “targeted killing,” adding that additional proof was required “to establish all this.”
Various gory speculations regarding the night Sharif passed away have been broadcast in Pakistani media.
According to some sources, the journalist was subjected to hours of torture before being shot to death. These claims mention broken fingers, broken ribs, missing fingernails, and other torture signs.
Additional information in the report shows Sharif received a visa for the United Arab Emirates on June 20, 2022, and the visa was valid until August 18, 2022.
When Sharif traveled to Kenya, his visa had 20 days left, and on October 12, 2022, he applied for renewal whereby the application was eventually denied.
On the night of October 23, 2022, journalist Sharif Arshad was fatally murdered by the police in Nairobi under suspicious circumstances.
Since then, Kenyan officials have reluctant to comment on the report’s specifics.
