Arshad Sharif: Killing of Pakistani journalist in Kenya was ‘targeted’ attack, minister says


Islamabad, Pakistan
CNN

BUT Pakistani journalist shot dead by police in Kenya last month was the victim of a “targeted killing,” a senior Pakistani government official said Tuesday, without providing any evidence to support his claim.

TV journalist Arshad Sharif, an outspoken critic of the Pakistani military, was killed on October 23 in a shootout with police near Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaulla told reporters that the initial assessment of a two-man fact-finding team that traveled to Kenya on behalf of the Pakistani government was that “Arshad Sharif was killed in a targeted killing.” More evidence is needed, he said, “to confirm all of this.”

Sanaullah’s comments appear to contradict earlier reports by Kenyan authorities that Sharif was shot dead by police in response to reports of a stolen car by mistake.

The Pakistani Home Minister also accused the Kenyan police of “non-cooperation” with the fact-finding team, saying that “important data” in the case had not been released by the Kenyan authorities. He added that a formal request for information had been submitted.

Kenyan police told CNN they were unaware that Pakistani officials were making any allegations of non-cooperation. “We have not received any such complaints, which, if any, should be filed officially,” said police spokesman Isohi Shioso.

Shioso said that the Independent Police Oversight Body was handling the case. CNN has reached out to the watchdog for comment.

Sharif fled Pakistan in August after charges of sedition were brought against him for allegedly criticizing state institutions and “sedition” within the military.

The accusations followed Sharif’s interview with opposition politician Shahbaz Gill, a close ally of Imran Khan, the ousted former prime minister who was shot last week under foggy circumstances during a protest in the Pakistani province of Punjab.

Following the interview, Pakistani police also accused Gill of sedition, saying he made “anti-state comments”.

Sharif’s television news channel ARY initially claimed he was “hunted by the current regime” but later cut ties with the journalist after Pakistani media regulators took him off the air for about a month.

Earlier, a close friend of Sharif told CNN that the journalist had to “flee Pakistan in August to save his life.” He first went to Dubai but was forced to flee again due to “persecution from the Pakistani authorities,” his aide said.

The employee said that Sharif then went to Kenya and only stayed in the East African country for a few weeks before his death.