APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and 14 human rights organizations and press associations issued a joint statement on Tuesday, May 2, calling on Kenyan authorities to expedite investigations into the killing of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif and to ensure accountability in a transparent judicial process.
According to the statement by CPJ, in October 2022, Kenyan police said an officer fatally shot Sharif in Kajiado County near the Kenyan capital Nairobi in a case of “mistaken identity.” Pakistani investigators later cast doubt on this narrative, saying the portrayal of the killing was “full of contradictions” and the involvement of “characters in Kenya, Dubai, and Pakistan in this assassination cannot be ruled out.”
The statement argues that Kenyan authorities’ failure to provide a credible account of the circumstances surrounding Sharif’s killing dents the country’s international image and raises safety concerns among a significant cohort of international journalists that have made the country home.
GIK/APA
