The widow of a prominent Pakistani journalist who was killed a year ago in Kenya has filed a lawsuit accusing an elite Kenyan police unit of wrongfully causing her husband’s death.
Javeria Siddique, the widow, initiated the lawsuit in Nairobi in her pursuit of justice for her late husband, Arshad Sharif, a highly regarded journalist in Pakistan. According to Pakistani authorities, Sharif was fatally shot on October 23, 2022, by officers from Kenya’s General Service Unit, who later claimed that it was a case of mistaken identity.
Based on court documents reviewed by The Associated Press, Siddique demands that Kenya’s Attorney General, the National Police Service, and the Director of Public Prosecutions take action to “punish and prosecute the police officers responsible for Arshad Sharif’s killing.”
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The lawsuit also requests that the court direct the Attorney General to issue a public apology to Arshad Sharif’s family within a week, acknowledging the facts and accepting responsibility.
Siddique stated in a phone interview with the AP, “I am suing the GSU because they committed the crime openly, then admitted that it was a case of mistaken identity. But for me, it was a targeted assassination because he was living in hiding in Kenya after receiving threats in Pakistan. The Kenyan government never issued any apology. They never contacted us, they never showed any kind of kindness toward us. It is really cruel for a government to be so insensitive,” Siddique added.
Sharif, aged 50, was a vocal critic of Qamar Javed Bajwa, Pakistan’s former army chief. He left Pakistan in July to avoid arrest for his criticism of the country’s powerful military and sought refuge in Kenya.
A large Pakistani flag is draped over the side of a building, Lahore, Pakistan, August 12, 2022. (ARIF ALI/AFP via Getty Images)
Nairobi police claim that the journalist was shot and killed after refusing to stop at a roadblock on the outskirts of the capital. However, the family, human rights groups, and Pakistani investigators argue that the killing was a premeditated assassination orchestrated in Pakistan.
In Islamabad, two Kenyan-based Pakistani businessmen who had hosted Sharif in Kenya were charged by the police for their involvement in his killing.
Sharif’s mother called on the Supreme Court of Pakistan to ensure the questioning of Bajwa and other former military officials whom she accused of plotting her son’s assassination.
News of Sharif’s murder deeply impacted Pakistan, prompting thousands to attend his funeral and the nation to mourn. Sharif’s friends, family, and colleagues have taken to social media and organized rallies across Pakistan to seek justice for him.
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The investigative report, which spans 592 pages and was released last year, revealed contradictory statements from the Kenyan police in the aftermath of Sharif’s killing.
Pakistan’s military vehemently denies any involvement in Sharif’s murder and vowed to support investigators in identifying the responsible parties.
According to the Kenyan police’s website, the General Service Unit is responsible for securing the president and key locations, maintaining civil order, and combating terrorism.
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Kenya’s National Police Service and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, an organization tasked with holding the police accountable, have not responded to AP’s requests for comment on the lawsuit.
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