Arshad Sharif’s mother seeks formation of judicial commission to probe son’s killing

ISLAMABAD: The mother of slain journalist Arshad Sharif, in a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial written on Wednesday, requested the formation of a high-powered judicial commission to investigate her son’s murder.

Sharif was shot dead in Kenya allegedly by the local police on the night of October 23, with an official police statement later expressing “regrets on the unfortunate incident” and saying an investigation was underway.

Initially, the Kenyan media quoted the local police as saying Sharif was shot dead by police in a case of “mistaken identity”.

However, reports from the Kenyan media later reconstructed the events surrounding the killing, stating that an occupant in Sharif’s car at the time of his killing was believed to have shot at paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU) officers.

Arshad Sharif’s mother requested the CJP to protect the murder case from becoming controversial, to provide justice to the deceased and to appoint a high-powered judicial commission “so that the feeling of insecurity amongst the family members … along with the journalist community is taken care of”.

She said that the judicial commission should comprise senior Supreme Court judges to “determine the real motive and identify criminals behind this heinous crime”.

“Only knowing the real motive and criminals and bringing them to justice would end the agony of martyr Arshad Sharif’s family and his journalist fraternity,” the letter to the chief justice stated.