The High Court in Kenya’s Kajiado County has granted 10 million Kenyan Shilling (about Rs 21.7 million) as compensation to the grieving family of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif, who was killed, according to NTV Kenya.
In the Tinga district of Kajiado County on October 23, 2022, Kenyan police shot and killed Sharif in what they subsequently referred to as a “mistaken identity” case.
The Kenyan High Court’s decision that the police shooting of Sharif in Kajiado was “arbitrary and unconstitutional” was followed by the reward.
The journalist’s “right to life, right to equal benefits and protection of the law, and right dignity, among others,” according to Justice Stella Mutuku, were all breached by the shooting, NTV Kenya said.
The judge also mandated that the government provide the family Sh10 million in compensation for the deceased person’s loss; however, she put a 30-day hold on the payment of the compensation to give the government time to file an appeal.
The judge declared, “After considering the aforementioned analysis, I conclude that the respondents collectively and severally infringed upon the petitioners’ rights through their actions.”
She went on to say that the family should be informed of the investigations’ progress and that the police personnel found to be at fault should face the proper consequences.
The decision was made in response to a lawsuit filed by Javeria Sidique, Sharif’s widow, against Kenyan authorities. She claimed that the officials had delayed the inquiry into the killing and had not kept the family informed.
Attorney General Justin Muturi, Police Inspector General Japhet Koome, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga, and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) were among the authorities that filed the lawsuit.
When Arshad Sharif was murdered, he was a passenger in a car, and the police said they mistook his car for one they were following that was purportedly stolen from Pangani.
The judge declared the next day that the chief of police had acknowledged that Sharif had been “fatally wounded” by policemen in an instance of “mistaken identity.”
The court ruled that Sharif faced torture as his life was cut short without a valid cause.
