Dawn urges accountability for slain journalist Arshad Sharif

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 26 October 2023

ISLAMABAD—Daily Dawn on Thursday regretted the lack of progress in arresting and punishing the culprits involved in the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif a year after he was shot dead in Kenya.

In an editorial—No progress—the paper said: “We are no closer to learning the truth behind the murder, and punishing the culprits.”

The paper maintained that powerful actors in Kenya and Pakistan are trying to ensure that the facts behind the murder never come to light. “In fact, Reporters Without Borders has observed that both countries are being ‘uncooperative’ and ‘engaging in duplicity’ where the investigations are concerned.”

Arshad fled Pakistan in August 2022 after sedition cases were registered against him for criticizing the PDM government and the establishment. After a brief stay in the UAE, he traveled to Kenya, where he met his tragic end.

Dawn called upon the state to ensure that the truth about the murder emerges. “This can be done by continuing to remind the Kenyan authorities of the need to carry out a thorough investigation and uncover the facts, while also ensuring that legal proceedings in Pakistan are not stalled.”

It said the Supreme Court, which took suo motu notice of the murder, can remind all concerned that the guilty need to be identified and punished. “A Pakistani journalist was murdered in a foreign land under suspicious circumstances. The state, therefore, owes it to Arshad Sharif’s family and the media fraternity to get to the bottom of this heinous crime.”