Team News Riveting
Islamabad, October 25
A senior Pakistan journalist, who was booked on charges of sedition and peddling “anti-state” narrative by the country’s security agencies earlier this year, was shot dead in Kenya, his wife said on Monday.
Arshad Sharif, 49, a former reporter and TV anchor with ARY TV, and known for his proximity to former prime minister Imran Khan, had relocated to Kenya. The Pakistan government has ordered a judicial probe into the incident.
Sharif’s wife Javeria Siddique took to Twitter on Monday to confirm the news of his death. “I lost friend, husband and my favourite journalist today, as per police he was shot in Kenya,” she said in a tweet.
In August, Sharif was booked on charges of sedition for interviewing Khan’s close aide Shehbaz Gill. In the interview, Gill criticised the Shehbaz Sharif government for trying to pitch Khan against the country’s powerful army.
Sharif subsequently fled the country, while ARY Network said it had “parted ways” with the journalist. Sharif was born in the port city of Karachi in 1973, and started his journalistic career three decades ago.
The Pakistan government on Tuesday decided to set up a judicial commission to probe the killing of prominent journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya.
Sharif was shot dead in Kenya by the local police on Sunday night, with an official police statement later expressing “regrets on the unfortunate incident”.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a video message announced to officially probe the killing after questions were raised in the media about the mysterious circumstances of his death. Deploring the tragic incident, the prime minister also assured the entire nation that an independent probe would bring all facts about the killing to light.
“I have decided to probe the killing and for this, I will ask the high court,” he said, adding the government would seek approval from the Cabinet for it.
Pakistan’s powerful army had also asked the government to probe the killing.
