According to her attorney, the widow of the murdered journalist Arshad Sharif, who had fled to Kenya from Pakistan to avoid arrest, filed a complaint against the Kenyan government on Monday.
In October of last year, Arshad Sharif was killed when Kenyan police opened fire on his vehicle at a roadblock outside of Nairobi.
One of Sharif’s two wives, Javeria Siddique, announced last week to AFP in Islamabad that she would be suing her husband.
On Monday, exactly one year after the midnight murder, her attorney verified that the case had been filed at Kenya’s High Court.
“Yes. Ochiel Dudley, a lawyer in Nairobi, told AFP that the complaint had been filed and that they were awaiting a case number and further instructions from the court.
“It has been a year that I have been fighting for justice,” said Siddique.
“The Kenyan police admitted that they killed my husband but never apologised.”
Officers in Kenya thought they were firing on a stolen vehicle connected to an abduction, according to official statements made last year.
Siddique, on the other hand, claims a “targeted attack” was responsible for her husband’s death.
“I have written to the Kenyan president and foreign minister but they were not even kind enough to say sorry,” according to her.
The major mosque in Islamabad was packed for Sharif’s funeral.
The murder has been noted by Pakistan’s highest court, but no decision has been made yet.
A team of Pakistani intelligence authorities investigating the incident filed a report to the Supreme Court in December, describing it as a “planned, targeted assassination” that may have involved “transnational characters.”
Advocates for press freedom have demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice.
Journalists in Pakistan are subject to restrictions and threats, placing the country at number 150 on Reporters Without Borders’ annual index of press freedom.
“Throughout the past year, I have endured financial and emotional losses and have even been subjected to character assassination,” added Siddique.
Rights groups in Kenya frequently accuse police of using excessive force and killing people without due process.
President William Ruto abolished a notorious police squad with a 20-year history last year, and the administration has pledged to modernise the security sector.
