ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Tuesday disposed of a suo motu case related to the killing of prominent journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya, ruling that there is no need for judicial oversight when the law and investigation are taking their “due course.”
Sharif, an outspoken critic of Pakistan’s government and its powerful military, was killed when police shot at his car on the outskirts of Kenya’s capital Nairobi on Oct. 23, 2022. Kenyan police later said the killing was a case of mistaken identity.
A five-member Supreme Court bench had initially taken up the suo motu case for an independent and transparent probe of Sharif’s murder in Dec. 2022, which was transferred to the FCC that was formed under the 27th constitutional amendment last year and granted jurisdiction over both constitutional and suo motu cases.
In a 14-page judgment on Tuesday, the constitutional court stressed that a mutual legal assistance (MLA) agreement had been reached between Pakistan and Kenya and that the matter was being handled through diplomatic channels.
“Since the MLA agreement has been signed between the two nations and they are also coordinating at the diplomatic level to implement it, we are of the view that the authorities of both countries are taking appropriate action under their respective laws,” the verdict read.
“Therefore, there is no need for any judicial interference in this regard when the law and investigation is taking its due course. In light of the aforementioned discussion, the instant suo moto action is disposed of. Accordingly, all pending applications are also disposed of.”
Sharif, who hosted a current affairs show on a local television channel, had to leave the country after several cases related to charges of sedition and others were filed against him shortly before his killing. He was believed to have been in the United Arab Emirates since he left Pakistan and had traveled to Kenya where he was killed.
While Kenyan police called his killing a case of mistaken identity, a team of Pakistani investigators, who probed his alleged murder, released a report in December 2022, saying that Sharif’s killing was a “planned, targeted assassination.”
Sharif’s wife, Javeria Siddique, who had demanded a judicial commission last year to probe his killing, said she was “disappointed” by Tuesday’s verdict.
“This case was a test for press freedom in Pakistan and getting justice for a citizen hounded in three countries, brutally killed,” she said on X. “A black day indeed.”
