Kenya’s top court rejects charges push in Arshad Sharif killing

A final ruling without charges

Kenya's Supreme Court dismissed the last constitutional appeal tied to the 2022 police killing of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif, declining to order prosecutions while leaving a Sh10 million compensation award in place for his widow, Javeria Siddique.aa +1 The court said the fatal shooting violated Sharif's right to life, but held that judges cannot direct the Director of Public Prosecutions to charge specific officers because that office is constitutionally independent.nation +1

Sharif was shot on October 23, 2022, while travelling in Kajiado County, south of Nairobi, after Kenyan police said they mistook the vehicle he was in for one linked to criminal activity.aa +1 The ruling closes years of Kenyan constitutional litigation while preserving the lower-court finding that the killing was unlawful and unconstitutional.nation +1

The family sought more than damages

Siddique and press groups had asked the court to compel prosecutions, increase damages, order release of investigative records and require a public apology from the state.nation +1 The five-judge bench rejected those remedies, saying there was no legal basis to raise the award or to override prosecutorial discretion.nation

The court also declined to classify the shooting as torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, finding that the evidentiary threshold had not been met.eastleighvoice +1 Siddique responded that the decision confirmed an unlawful violation of the right to life but left the family without arrests, prosecutions or an apology nearly four years after Sharif's death.aa +1

A press-freedom case with cross-border fallout

Sharif was one of Pakistan's best-known television journalists and had left Pakistan in 2022 after facing legal pressure and threats linked to his reporting, according to press-freedom advocates.journalismpakistan +1 The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed the 2024 High Court ruling that found the killing unlawful, but urged Kenyan authorities to prosecute those responsible for the fatal shooting.cpj

The case has also moved through Pakistan's courts. Anadolu reported that Pakistan's Federal Constitutional Court disposed of a related suo motu case in February, citing ongoing mutual legal assistance between Pakistani and Kenyan authorities.aa The Kenyan ruling now leaves the family with a formal declaration of rights violations and compensation, but no court order forcing criminal accountability.eastleighvoice +1