Oct. 24 (UPI) — Prominent Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif died on Sunday after he was shot by police at a roadblock.
Kenyan officials said they started an investigation into the shooting involving Sharif, 49, who was a passenger in a vehicle that didn’t stop at the roadblock. Police said they fired on the vehicle when it failed to yield.
Sharif had been a longtime critic of the Pakistani military and an ardent supporter of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was forced from office this year. He had complained of being harassed in Pakistan, leading him to leave the country.
The journalist fled the country in August to escape arrest after he was hit with multiple charges, including sedition for an interview with Shahbaz Gill, a close aide of Khan. Gill made comments the military claimed were offensive to them.
The journalist had previously lived in Britain and the United Arab Emirates before moving to Kenya. It was not clear why he moved to Kenya.
“I lost friend, husband and my favorite journalist Arshad Shariff today,” his wife Javeria Siddique said on Twitter Sunday. “As per police, he was shot in Kenya. Respect our privacy and in the name of breaking please don’t share our family pics, personal details, and his last pictures from [the] hospital. Remember us in your prayers.”
Khan also issued a statement mourning the journalist’s death.
“Shocked at the brutal murder of Arshad Sharif who paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth — his life,” Khan said on Twitter. “He had to leave the country and be in hiding abroad but he continued to speak the truth on social media, exposing the powerful. Today the entire nation mourns his death.”
The Islamabad High Court in Pakistan has issued notice to Kenyan authorities to present them with a report regarding the circumstances of the death at the earliest possible date. Journalists in Karachi and Islamabad took to the streets in protest over Sharif’s death.
