A team of Pakistani investigators later said Sharif’s killing was a “planned assassination.” His widow, Javeria Siddique, filed the case against the Kenyan police unit, known as the General Service Unit or GSU, that was involved in the shooting.
Kenyan police claimed Sharif did not stop at a roadblock on the outskirts of Nairobi but his family and Pakistani investigators disagreed, saying Shariff’s killing was planned in Pakistan.
“I am suing the GSU because they committed the crime openly,” Siddique said earlier in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “For me, it was a targeted assassination because he was living in hiding in Kenya after receiving threats in Pakistan.”
The case is being heard at the Kajiado High Court on the outskirts of Nairobi and along with Siddique, the Kenya Union of Journalists and the Kenya Correspondents have been listed as joint petitioners.
The plaintiffs’ submission to court accuses Kenyan authorities of “failing to prosecute officers involved in the wrongful death of Arshad” and demands “a public apology to the family of Sharif.”
“It has taken us some time to go to court because we thought investigations will be carried out, and the officer who pulled the trigger prosecuted,” a statement from the union said. “Nothing so far has happened, so we are justified to go to court.”
Ochiel Dudley, the lawyer representing Shariff’s widow, said his legal team is “assisting the family to pursue justice in Kenya.”
In Islamabad, police have charged two Kenyan-based Pakistani businessmen who had hosted Sharif in the East African country with involvement in his killing.
The case has drawn international criticism from rights groups.
“Arshad Sharif was politically persecuted in Pakistan and sought safety in Kenya, only to meet death,” said Muthoki Mumo, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ sub-Saharan Africa representative.
“A year later, Kenyan authorities have dismally failed in their responsibility to credibly and swiftly investigate the killing,” she added. “His family and colleagues deserve justice, and a more credible accounting of the circumstances surrounding his death than the dubious story provided by the police.”
– Emmanuel Igunza, AP News
