On Tuesday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court appointed a panel of five justices to oversee a probe into the killing of a notable journalist who was shot and killed in Kenya.
Arshad Sharif, a journalist, was assassinated on Oct. 23 while traveling in a car on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. Kenyan police said it was a case of mistaken identity.
Sharif had already fled Pakistan, citing threats to his life, after the government filed a treason prosecution against him.
The Supreme Court stated that it had taken up the case voluntarily and was seeking statements from Pakistan’s foreign and interior ministries, the Federal Investigation Agency, and the Intelligence Bureau.
“The journalist community and the public at large are deeply distressed and concerned about the death of the senior journalist and are seeking the court’s scrutiny of the matter,” the court said in a statement.
The late journalist was a prime-time television news show host for ARY News in Pakistan for many years.
Kenyan police said Sharif was shot dead when police hunting car thieves opened fire on the vehicle he was travelling in as it drove through their roadblock late at night without stopping.
Police had set up a roadblock with small stones, but the car in which Sharif was a passenger refused to stop, even after officers opened fire, according to a police report. The automobile was hit by nine gunshots, one of which struck Sharif in the head.
In Spite of the Kenyan police findings, Pakistan’s interior minister said there was evidence to suggest it was a targeted killing based on initial findings of a team of Pakistani investigators who visited Kenya.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said Sharif’s body had bruises and torture marks.
The treason case filed against Sharif stemmed from reporting he did that led to an accusation he had spread a call from an official in a previous government, led by former cricket star Imran Khan, for members of the armed forces to mutiny.
Both Sharif and the officials in the previous government denied inciting mutiny.
Former prime minister Khan said Sharif had been murdered for his journalistic work. He called for a judicial investigation.
