A Judge of the High Court in Kajiado Lady Justice Stella Mutuku has ruled the shooting dead of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif by a Kenyan police officer in 2022 as arbitrary and unconstitutional.
Mr Sam Kiplagat, Court Reporter for Nation Media Group filed a story saying Lady Justice Stella Mutuku on Monday found that the killing that happened on October 23, 2023 violated the scribe’s right to life, right to equal benefit and protection of the law, and right dignity, among others.
Consequently, the judge ordered the government of Kenya to pay the family Sh10 million as compensation, although she suspended the monetary benefit for 30 days to allow the government to appeal against the decision.
The court observed in its order that the police acted unlawfully in using lethal force against a Pakistani journalist killed near the capital in October 2022, ordering thousands of dollars in compensation for his widow. Arshad Sharif, 49, died when Kenyan police opened fire on his car at a roadblock outside Nairobi.
Counsel for Sharif’s widow has been reported saying on Monday that the High court has also ordered authorities to initiate criminal proceedings against the two police officers involved in happening.
It is worth mentioning that Sharif’s widow, Javeria Siddique, together with the Kenya Union of Journalists and Kenya Correspondents Association, filed a complaint last year against top Kenyan officials over the “arbitrary and unlawful killing” and their “failure to investigate.” After conducting three hearings, the court reserved its verdict on May 8 in the matter, which was subsequently announced a day ago on Monday.
