ISLAMABAD: A civil judge-cum-judicial magistrate in Islamabad on Saturday issued non-bailable arrest warrants against the spouse of slain journalist Arshad Sharif, producer of a private television channel, and other witnesses for repeatedly not appearing before the court to record their statements in the Arshad Sharif murder case.

Reportedly, Judicial Magistrate Abbas Shah repeatedly summoned Sumiyya Arshad, producer Ali Usman, and other prosecution witnesses to record their testimony in the trial but due to their failure to appear before the court, warrants were issued.

In March this year, the judge had issued bailable arrest warrants against all the witnesses to procure the attendance but to no avail.

Sources privy to the court proceedings told Dawn that the judicial magistrate was supposed to submit a report to the Supreme Court regarding the developments in the Arshad Sharif murder case, but the absence of witnesses was hampering the progress. Therefore, the warrants were issued to take the case to a logical conclusion, sources added.

Summiya Arshad, other witnesses asked to record statements in Arshad Sharif murder case

Speaking to a private TV channel, Summaiya Arshad said she had not received the summons from the court and added that she learned about her warrants through media reports.

Ms Arshad said the case in which she was being summoned was not registered on the family’s complaint, but proceedings were initiated on a complaint lodged by the state. The wife of the slain journalist said she only knew about the Supreme Court’s suo motu case regarding the murder of her husband and added that she was present and available on all of the dates.

Arshad Sharif murder case

Mr Sharif had left Pakistan in August last year after a number of cases were registered against him. It was reported that he was initially staying in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after which he went to Kenya, where he was shot dead by the police under mysterious circumstances.

Initially, the Kenyan media had quoted the local police as saying Mr Sharif was shot dead by police in a case of “mistaken identity”. But later reports from the Kenyan media reconstructed the events surrounding the killing, stating that an occupant in Mr Sharif’s car at the time of his killing was believed to have shot at paramilitary General Service Unit officers.

The Pakistan government subsequently formed a team that travelled to Kenya to investigate the killing. However, the JIT could not properly investigate the murder since there was no treaty for cooperation between the investigation agencies of both countries.

The Supreme Court was recently told that the Pakistani government was preparing the draft of a mutual legal assistance (MLA) agreement in the Arshad Sharif case to formally ask Kenyan authorities to allow access to suspects in the journalist’s killing.

The apex court in March expressed displeasure over the release to the media of the initial report of a fact-finding committee into the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif.

The CJP asked Attorney General (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan to take up the matter with the authorities concerned so that the person behind the release of the report was found out.

The fact-finding report had concluded that the murder of journalist Arshad Sharif was a “planned, targeted assassination” which purportedly involved “transnational characters”.

In June this year, the mother of the slain journalist filed an application before the Supreme Court to include PTI Chairman Imran Khan and four other people in the investigation.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2023