GENEVA: Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media safety and rights body, condemned the murder of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif (50) in Nairobi, who becomes the 102nd media victims so far in 2022 and urged the Kenya government to fairly probe into the incident that led to his demise. The broadcast journalist in exile, who was critical to the Pak military agencies, was shot dead by armed personnel on Sunday night, stated his wife Javeria Siddique.
A former reporter with ARY TV Arshad fled to Kenya in August following troubles in his country. A Karachi-born Arshad started his journalistic career three decades back and emerged as a popular media personality with his investigative reports. A master’s degree holder in media studies, Arshad also worked with Aaj News, Dunya TV, Dawn News, etc. Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists along with a large number of media workers condoled his untimely demise.
“We demand a transparent judicial investigation into Arshad’s killing and urge Kenyan President William Ruto to punish the culprits, involved with his murder, under the relevant laws,” said Blaise Lempen, president of PEC (www.pressemblem.ch/pec-news.shtml), adding that the brave journalist had to leave Pakistan following sedition charges were framed against him following an interview with an opposition politician.
Pakistan earlier lost journalists Muhammad Younis, Iftikhar Ahmed, Hasnain Shah, Murtaza Shar and Athar Mateen to assailants this year, said PEC’s south Asia representative Nava Thakuria adding that India witnessed the murder of journalists Rohit Kumar Biswal, Sudhir Saini, Juned Khan Pathan and Subhash Kumar Mahato since 1 January. Journalists namely Hashibur Rahaman Rubel, Mohiuddin Sarker Nayeem and Abdul Bari were killed in Bangladesh and Myanmar witnessed the death of photojournalist Aye Kyaw and journalist Pu Tui Dim in military atrocities.