ISLAMABAD: Slain journalist Arshad Sharif’s widow has written a letter to President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi, seeking help to get justice for her husband’s murder.
On the evening of October 23, Sharif was fatally shot in Kenya. Initial reports from the Kenyan media said that Sharif was killed by police in a “mistaken identity” incident.
My letter to President of Pakistan @ArifAlvi @PresOfPakistan #JusticeForArshadSharif pic.twitter.com/0H2863Jku6
— Javeria Siddique (@javerias) November 18, 2022
However, later reports from the Kenyan media reconstructed the circumstances of the murder and claimed that a person who was in Sharif’s car at the time of his death was thought to have fired at paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU) officers. To look into Sharif’s death, investigations are being conducted, and the government has also established committees.
Javeria Siddique said that the family was left “completely devastated” by the murder and were “desperately running from pillar to post” to seek justice for him.
She said that neither the state nor the country had provided any assistance in starting the inquiry, carrying out and publishing the postmortem study, or in stopping those who were using his death to “advance their own agendas and the settling of scores.”
Siddique claimed that images of Sharif’s attack had been forcibly leaked and distributed, that his dignity had been violated even after his death, and that his family had been put through “continuous pain” by viewing the images.
“We never consented to any of these pictures being displayed and despite pleading with the relevant authorities to tell us how these pictures were made public knowledge, we found no support from officials.”
“It barely requires mentioning that our entire family has been extremely disturbed and disappointed by the way the investigations into martyr Arshad’s cold-blooded murder are being carried out,” the letter reads, adding that it appeared as if the entire exercise was aimed at “just covering up his brutal and inhumane murder”.
Siddique urged the president to intervene and order that the case be given a “fair and honest investigation” as per the Constitution.
She asserted that the family had a “basic right” to know the truth about the murder and have access to the necessary information because a significant amount of time had passed since the postmortem was performed by the Kenyan and Pakistani authorities.
The president was also asked by Siddique to issue orders to the relevant parties to guarantee that the “media trial be halted so that the due process of law may prevail.”
She added that there were many “discrepancies, anomalies and contradictions in the initial investigations” that had forced the family to reject the government-formed commissions since “the same government filed no less than 16 unfounded FIRs (first information reports) against him.”
Siddique asked the president to assist the family in contacting the Supreme Court to request the formation of a judicial commission to conduct an open investigation into the murder, as well as in assisting the family in ensuring a thorough murder investigation by no less than a high-powered international team of experts under direct UN supervision.
