The Supreme Court in Pakistan has raised concerns about delays in ending a mutual legal assistance (MLA) agreement with Kenya, an important step in the Arshad Sharif murder survey.
A constitutional bench of six members led by Justice Aminuddin Khan heard the Suo Motu case Friday, Express News reported.
The additional lawyer (AAG) informed the court that the agreement was signed and would be sent to presidential approval within a month.
Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi questioned why the covenant signed on December 10, 2023, had not yet been ratified. Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail asked if the court needed to demand daily status reports.
The bench also referred to Pakistan’s extradition of Daesh commander Sharifullah to the United States and questioned how it continued despite the absence of a prisoner exchange treaty.
“A journalist was brutally murdered, yet the Pakistani government has not supported his family in Kenya,” Rizvi justice noted.
The Ministry of the Interior’s joint secretary stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been notified of the agreement on February 27, which asked further questions from the bench as to why it took two months after the last hearing to act.
Arshad Sharif’s widow, Javeria Siddique, stated the court that Kenya’s Supreme Court had ordered action against police officers involved in the murder, but the Kenyan government had appealed the decision.
She noted that Pakistan had neither intervened nor offered support.
Justice Mandokhail asked, “If a woman is fighting the case alone in Kenya, why is the government reluctant to help her?”
AAG claimed that Pakistan did not have access to the crime scene, which was important for the investigation. He emphasized that Pakistan could only become a party to the case when the MLA agreement was fully implemented.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar observed that the Suo Motu case had been pending for years. The lawyer of Arshad Sharif’s mother requested a copy of the fact-find report, which AAG said had already been leaked to the media.
The Supreme Court postponed the hearing for a month and sought an update on the approval of the agreement.
Journalist Arshad Sharif had gone into self -imparted exile and moved to Kenya after a series of cases against him in Pakistan.
His murder in October 2022 triggered a legal battle in Kenya, which led to a court ruling that police acted illegally in his death.
The case initiated by Sharif’s widow, Javeria Siddique, along with Kenyan journalist groups, accused topping police and legal officials of arbitrarily and illegally killed Sharif and failed to conduct a proper investigation.
Sharif, a prominent journalist, was shot in the head when the Kenyan police opened fire on his vehicle and claimed it was a case of wrong identity. His death attracted international condemnation and renewed control over out -of -law killing of Kenyan security forces.
The question of police’s excessive power and illegal killings in Kenya has been a long -standing concern for human rights groups.
