Senior journalist Arshad Sharif, who left the nation after being accused of sedition, passed away in Nairobi, Kenya, according to reports that he was shot, his widow said early on Monday.
His wife wrote, “I lost buddy, spouse and my favorite journalist today, as per police he was shot in Kenya.”
After being charged with many offenses, including sedition after an interview with PTI politician Shahbaz Gill during which the latter had made contentious remarks, the 49-year-old journalist left the country in August to escape being arrested.
Mr. Sharif allegedly traveled to Dubai in August and then to Kenya because of threats to his life.
The unexpected death of the journalist sparked calls for a comprehensive investigation and the disclosure of the truth while shocking rights organizations, the media community, and civil society.
Washington likewise encouraged Kenya to look into it. “We are devastated by Arshad Sharif’s passing. We encourage the Kenyan authorities to conduct a thorough inquiry into his passing,” Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, told reporters.
He declared that the US valued the freedom of expression and denounced those who infringed upon it.
Similar to this, the United Nations demanded a comprehensive probe into the events surrounding the senior journalist’s shooting death in Kenya.
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, responded to a question during the regularly scheduled midday briefing at the UN Headquarters in New York by saying, “I noticed the awful news about the tragedy. He hoped that the Kenyan authorities would look into it.
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb briefed the media on the horrific incident and revealed that Kenyan police officers, physicians, and Pakistan’s ambassador to Kenya, Syeda Saqlain, are now present at the mortuary in Nairobi where the ambassador has recognized Sharif’s body.
The minister added that the procedure to repatriate the dead had begun following the identification, and the Kenyan government had been asked to finish the regulatory process as soon as feasible.
In a press release, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its sincere sadness for Arshad Sharif’s “untimely demise” and made it known that Pakistan’s high commissioner in the nation had recognized the corpse.
According to the report, the high commissioner then got in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ senior officials as well as the police. For confirmation, the vice president’s office was also called.