The Supreme Court of Pakistan has resumed hearing the suo motu notice of the murder of journalist Arshad Sharif, who was shot dead in Kenya last year.
The case is being heard by a five-member bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Jamal Mandokhel, Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar.
At the previous hearing, the top court had asked investigators to discuss with the foreign ministry the possibility of involving the United Nations in the murder probe.
It had also said that the court would not interfere in the investigation. “The court is giving freedom to the JIT for probe and the matter should be investigated transparently as the court is very serious about transparent investigation,” the bench had said.
Earlier, a 592-page fact-finding report furnished before the court concluded that the murder was a “planned targeted assassination” that purportedly involved “transnational characters”. The investigators also contested the version put forth by the Kenyan police that Mr Sharif’s killing was the “case of mistaken identity”.
