A Kenyan court issued a landmark ruling on Monday, finding the 2022 police killing of a Pakistani journalist unlawful.
Two years ago, Kenyan police opened fire on Pakistani news anchor Arshad Sharif’s car, shooting him in the head.
“The use of lethal force, including the shooting of Mr Sharif in the head, was unlawful and unconstitutional,” Judge Stella Mutuku ruled.
Sharif was a fierce critic of Pakistan’s powerful military and ruling elite and an ardent supporter of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is imprisoned in Pakistan.
Mr Sharif’s widow, Javeria Siddiqui, who filed the lawsuit, welcomed the fact that “justice” had finally been achieved in the drawn-out case.
Kenyan government faces $78,000 compensation judgment
Siddiq and two Kenyan journalists’ organisations filed a complaint last year against top police and legal officials over the “arbitrary and unlawful killing” of Sharif and the “subsequent failure” of Kenyan authorities to investigate.
On Monday, a high court in Kajiado, a town south of Nairobi, rejected police arguments that the killing was a case of mistaken identity and that officers believed they had fired at a stolen vehicle involved in the kidnapping.
The ruling was “an excellent precedent for police accountability,” Siddiq’s lawyer, Okir Dudley, told AFP, adding that the judge found that “Kenya has violated Arshad Sharif’s right to life, dignity and freedom from torture and cruel and degrading treatment.”
The ruling said the Kenyan government must pay 10 million Kenyan shillings ($78,000 or €72,000) in compensation to the victims’ families, but the court granted the government’s request to postpone the decision for 30 days to allow it to appeal.
The government violated his rights by not prosecuting the police officers.
Dudley added that according to court authorities, Kenya’s government agency, the Director of Public Prosecutions and Independent Police Oversight Authority, had violated Sharif’s rights by failing to prosecute the two officers involved.
“We hold that the defendants jointly and severally have violated the plaintiffs’ rights through their conduct,” Mutuku said. The Nation.
In his ruling, Judge Mutuku ordered Kenya’s judiciary and police to complete their investigations into the case, saying the defendants “must take responsible action, if found guilty, including punishing and prosecuting the police officers who killed Arshad Sharif,” he said.
“Court decision is justified,” Kenyan expert tells DW
“Given the circumstances of the police shooting, the court’s ruling is justified,” Kenyan security expert Dominic Wabala told DW.
“That day, police received a report of a carjacking in Nairobi. The vehicle reported as stolen had just started driving outside Nairobi, while Mr Sharif’s car was heading towards Nairobi. Furthermore, the stolen car did not match the journalist’s car,” Wabala said.
Police opened fire without even checking if they were in the right car, he added.
Police violence rampant in Kenya
Kenya’s police are often criticized by human rights groups for using excessive force and committing unlawful killings.
“There are numerous reports of excessive use of force, extrajudicial killings and ill-treatment by police, which highlights the need for reforms and stronger oversight mechanisms,” Mhlongo Francis, student chairperson for the Attorney General’s Office and Ministry of Justice, told DW.
At least 39 protesters opposed to controversial proposed tax increases were killed in Kenya recently.
“In Kenya, young, unarmed, peaceful protesters have been harassed, beaten and even shot by police. Police have hired thugs to discredit the protesters and justify their brutality,” said Wabala, the security expert.
Pakistan’s press freedom at an all-time low
Sharif was forced to flee Pakistan in 2022, days after an interview with a senior opposition politician in which he said junior officers in the Pakistani army should not follow orders that go against the “will of the majority”.
Pakistan’s military has dominated society and politics for decades, and any criticism of the military is not tolerated, with journalists often facing dire consequences.
Recently, police arrested Pakistani journalist and video blogger Asad Ali Tour, who was charged with orchestrating a vicious campaign through social media platforms aimed at “extorting, blackmailing and inciting violence” against the state and its officials, reported Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera.
Pakistan ranks 152nd out of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, and journalists face censorship and intimidation.
Plaintiffs doubt justice in Pakistan
Siddiq, who followed the trial from Islamabad, Pakistan, expressed his gratitude to the court’s decision. “I cannot fully express my emotions and it cannot bring Arshad back, but it has set a precedent that those who kill journalists will not escape justice,” he told AFP.
“Right now there is no freedom of the press in my country,” Siddiq said, adding that he was “not optimistic” that justice would be achieved in Pakistan.
But with regard to the Kenyan court’s ruling, she said, “I feel like finally some form of justice has been achieved.”
This report uses material from the Associated Press and AFP.
Editor: Wesley Dockery