Kenya’s Kajiado High Court awarded the family of Arshad Sharif, a Pakistani journalist mistakenly shot and killed by Kenyan police in October 2022, 10 million Kenyan shillings.
Arshad Sharif, a prominent journalist and former ARY News anchor, was residing in Nairobi in self-exile when he met his untimely death.
Justice Stella Mutuku declared that the police’s lethal action, which involved shooting Sharif in the head, was both unlawful and unconstitutional.
During the proceedings, Arshad Sharif’s wife, Javeria Siddique, through her attorney, Advocate Dudley Ochiel, demanded that the court require the Attorney General, Director of Public Prosecutions, Inspector General of Police, Independent Policing Oversight Authority, and the National Police Service Commission to release all documents, evidence, and recordings they held concerning the incident.
Justice Mutuku stated in her ruling, “By admitting to the shooting, albeit as a mistaken identity, the respondents have acknowledged violating the deceased’s rights.”
Additionally, Kenyan investigative journalist Brian Obuya has voiced concerns about delays in the investigation of Sharif’s death, noting the prolonged duration of the probe.
