ISLAMABAD: US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller emphasized the safety of journalists “around the world” on Tuesday after being asked about a recent verdict issued by a Kenyan court declaring the 2022 police killing of Pakistani anchor Arshad Sharif unlawful.
Sharif, who was widely viewed as critical of Pakistan’s powerful military and a staunch supporter of the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, left the country in August 2022 after sedition cases were filed against him.
He was fatally shot by the Kenyan police nearly two months later while traveling to Nairobi in a vehicle. The law enforcement officials in the African state described the shooting as a result of “mistaken identity.”
However, the Kenyan court ordered the authorities to launch criminal proceedings against the officers who shot the Pakistani journalist after examining the evidence in the case, according to the lawyer representing Sharif’s widow.
“I’m not aware of this case, so I’m not going to comment in any way specifically on it at all,” Miller said when asked about the Kenyan court’s verdict during his media briefing in Washington.
“But, of course, we support the work of journalists around the world,” he continued. “And we think that it’s important that they be able to do that job – their job safely.”
Sharif’s widow, Javeria Siddique, together with the Kenya Union of Journalists and Kenya Correspondents Association, filed a complaint last year against top Kenyan officials over the “arbitrary and unlawful killing” and their “failure to investigate.”
After a total of three hearings, the court reserved its verdict on May 8, which was subsequently announced on Monday.
US urges journalist safety after Kenyan court rules Pakistani anchor’s killing unlawful
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US urges journalist safety after Kenyan court rules Pakistani anchor’s killing unlawful
- Arshad Sharif was fatally shot by the Kenyan police in 2022 after he went into exile due to sedition charges against him
- Kenyan court asked authorities to launch criminal proceedings against officers who shot him after examining evidence
Gunmen kill 3 Revolutionary Guards in Iranian province bordering Pakistan
- Iranian state media says attackers ambushed patrol in Sistan and Baluchistan province before fleeing
- Border region with Pakistan and Afghanistan has long seen militant and smuggling-related violence
TEHRAN: Gunmen killed three members of the Revolutionary Guard in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan near the Pakistan border, state media reported.
The Guard members were ambushed while patrolling near the city of Lar in a mountainous area about 1,125 kilometers (700 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran, the official IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA did not report whether any Guard members were injured in the attack.
The Revolutionary Guard is pursing the attackers it calls “terrorists,” but they remain at large. No group has taken responsibility for the attack, IRNA reported.
The province bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan, one of the least developed in Iran, has been the site of occasional deadly clashes involving militant groups, armed drug smugglers and Iranian security forces.
In August, Iran’s security forces killed 13 militants in three separate operations in the province a week after the group killed five policemen who were on patrol.
