Lethal force used against Arshad Shari was unlawful, unconstitutional, rules Kenyan court  

The High Court in Kenya’s Kajiado has granted 10 million Kenyan shillings to the family of Arshad Sharif, a Pakistani journalist who was mistakenly shot and killed by Kenyan police officers in October 2022.

Sharif, a senior journalist and former ARY News anchor, was shot dead in Nairobi on October 23 while living in self-exile. The police later expressed regret over the incident in an official statement.

In her ruling, Justice Stella Mutuku declared that the lethal force used against Arshad Sharif, specifically shooting him in the head, was unlawful and unconstitutional.

Javeria Siddique, Sharif’s wife, through her lawyer Advocate Dudley Ochiel, requested the court to mandate the Attorney General, Director of Public Prosecutions, Inspector General of Police, Independent Policing Oversight Authority, and the National Police Service Commission to provide all documents, evidence, films, photographs, and video recordings related to Sharif’s shooting.

The judge stated, “By shooting the deceased under the circumstances described in this case, and admitting it was a case of mistaken identity, the respondents violated the rights of the deceased.”

Previously, Kenyan investigative journalist Brian Obuya expressed concerns about the delay in the investigation findings into Arshad Sharif’s murder, noting that the investigators had taken an excessively long time to complete the probe.