ISLAMABAD: Mother of slain Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif approached the Islamabad High Court on Friday to file a petition against her son’s delayed postmortem report, said the local media, while requesting that the document should not be made public without her family’s permission.
Sharif, who did a talk show with a local news channel, was killed in Kenya on October 23 when his car sped up and drove through a checkpoint outside Nairobi, prompting the police to open fire. The law enforcement officials in the Kenyan capital expressed regret over the incident, calling it was a case of “mistaken identity” during a search for a car involved in a child abduction case.
A harsh critic of the incumbent government and the military, the deceased journalist underwent an autopsy in Pakistan after his body was brought back from the African state. He was laid to rest in Islamabad on October 27 amid calls for a transparent investigation into his killing.
According to The Express Tribune, Sharif’s mother, Riffat Ara Alvi, moved a petition in which she said that her family had contacted the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) where the management had neither provided the report nor denied it to them.
“The PIMS and local administration have kept Arshad Sharif’s family in the dark about the post-mortem report and humiliated them during this difficult time,” her application said.
Alvi expressed fear the autopsy report could be altered while requesting that her family should be kept informed about it to ensure transparency.
She also requested the court to provide Sharif’s postmortem report to his family, asking it “should not be made public without the family’s permission.”
The slain journalist’s mother also wrote a letter to the country’s chief justice earlier this month, requesting him to form a judicial commission to look into her son’s killing.
She also criticized the federal administration for first promising a high-powered judicial commission and then forming a team with a retired judge and two federal government officials to probe the case.
Mother of slain Pakistani journalist approaches local court against son’s delayed autopsy report
https://arab.news/623tq
Mother of slain Pakistani journalist approaches local court against son’s delayed autopsy report
- Arshad Sharif’s mother says her family sought postmortem report from PIMS but could not get it
- She requests the court not to make the document public without the consent of her family
Curfew extended in Gilgit-Baltistan, probe ordered after deadly Khamenei protests
- At least 15 people were killed in clashes with law enforcement agencies over the weekend in Gilgit-Baltistan
- Government also announces a de-weaponization campaign, crackdown on hate speech and cybercrime in region
ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region on Tuesday extended a curfew in Gilgit district and ordered a judicial probe into violent protests over the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes last week, an official said.
At least 15 people were killed in clashes with law enforcement agencies over the weekend in GB, where protesters torched and vandalized several buildings, including United Nations regional offices, an army-run school, software technology park and a local charity building.
The violence prompted regional authorities to impose curfew in Gilgit and Skardu districts on March 2-4 as officials urged people to stay indoors and cooperate with law enforcers, amid widespread anger in Pakistan, particularly among members of the Shiite minority, over Khamenei’s killing.
On Tuesday, the GB government convened to review the situation and announced the extension of curfew in Gilgit among a number of security measures as well as ordered the establishment of a judicial commission to investigate the weekend violence in the region.
“The government has made it clear that the law will strictly take its course against elements involved in vandalism at government institutions, private properties and incidents of vandalism in Gilgit and Skardu and no kind of mischief will be tolerated,” Shabbir Mir, a GB government spokesperson, said in a statement.
“In view of the security situation, curfew will remain in force in Gilgit, while the decision to extend the curfew in Skardu will be taken keeping the ground realities and the changing situation in view.”
The statement did not specify how long the curfew will remain in place in Gilgit.
Besides the formation of the judicial commission to investigate the violent clashes, the government also decided to launch a large-scale de-weaponization campaign in the entire Gilgit district, for which relevant institutions have been directed to immediately complete all necessary arrangements, according to Mir.
In addition, a crackdown has been ordered on hate speech, spread of fake news and cybercrime.
“The aim of these decisions is to ensure the rule of law, protect the lives and property of citizens and crack down on miscreants,” he said. “Approval has also been given to immediately survey the affected infrastructure and start their restoration work on priority basis.”
Demonstrators in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi also stormed the US Consulate on Sunday, smashing windows and attempting to burn the building. Police responded with batons, tear gas, and gunfire, leaving 10 people dead and more than 50 injured.
Pakistani authorities have since beefed up security at US diplomatic missions across the country, including around the US consulate building in Peshawar, to avoid any further violence.
