Revealed: Family of slain Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif had asked him to seek asylum

The wife of a Pakistani journalist killed on Magadi Road in Kajiado County while on his way to Nairobi on Sunday night had asked him to leave Kenya and seek asylum in another country, the Nation can now reveal.

The revelation that Ms Javeria Siddique had asked Mr Arshad Mohammed Sharif to seek asylum comes amid reports that a court in Islamabad, Pakistan, in April ordered the country’s intelligence agency and the local police to stop harassing the prominent journalist.

Ms Siddique said her husband had received constant threats over the past six months but he had told her he was not worried.

"Arshad was receiving threats for the last six months because of which he decided to leave the country," she told the Independent Urdu, a Pakistan-based news outlet.

“When (I) asked Arshad to file a request for asylum, he said, 'Pakistan is my country, I (will) live and die there'. He said he would return to Pakistan in a few days."

Asked when she last spoke to her husband, Ms Siddique, who broke the news of her husband’s death via Twitter, said the couple had spoken at 10pm Pakistan time on Sunday (8pm Kenyan time).

Immediately after Mr Khuram Ahmed, a relative, realised that the journalist had died, the journalist’s phone was switched off.

"I thought he might be busy with work. After a while, his number was switched off too," she said.

She said the news that her husband had died after being shot in Kenya was announced at 2am on Monday, October 24 (midnight, Sunday, October 23, Kenyan time).

"His friend from Nairobi called at 2am and informed me he had an accident. Then after a while (he) informed that (he) had been shot in the head and murdered."

Harassment

A court had ordered police in Pakistan to stop harassing the journalist. The orders were issued by the Islamabad High Court following a petition by Mr Faisal Chaudhry, Mr Sharif’s lawyer.

The court also summoned police bosses and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to appear before him and shed more light on the matter.

The late journalist was described as a bold man who defied all odds in a country known to be among the most unsafe for journalists. He used to criticise Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who assumed power in April 2022 following the ouster of former cricket star Imran Khan through a vote of no confidence.

His woes with the administration started when he exposed the prime minister’s travel to Saudi Arabia, becoming the first to do so. A few days later, his lawyer revealed that he had been informed that people in civilian uniforms had gone to the journalist’s house.

“I got a call from Arshad Sharif last night. The story about the prime minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia was broken by Arshad Sharif,” the lawyer was quoted telling the court in April 2022. 

“People went to Arshad Sharif’s house in civil uniform last night. I have not been in direct contact with (him) since last night.”

Mr Sharif had departed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) prematurely after he heard about plans to deport him to Pakistan, suggesting that he was concerned about his safety.

In August 2022, the journalist resigned from ARY News, where he hosted a talk show about political activities in Pakistan.

At the time he fled his home country, Mr Sharif was facing sedition charges. Sedition is conduct or speech considered to incite people to rebel against the authority of a state of a monarch.

Mr Sharif died on Sunday night as he left a club known as Ammodump Kwenia, which is popular among Pakistanis and Indians living in Kenya.

He was shot at the junction of a dusty feeder road and the Magadi-Nairobi road, but there were no signs of a shootout at the scene when the Nation visited on Monday, October 24.

Locals told reporters that they had heard gunshots on that night but assumed that General Service Unit (GSU) officers were training, a common activity there.

“Around 9pm, I heard ‘twa twa twa’ three times before all went silent. We are used to this from the GSU Training School trainees. I was not bothered,” said area Assistant Chief Matthias Kamukuru. Mr Kamukuru’s residence sits a few metres from where the journalist was allegedly killed.

The following morning, he said, he was informed by locals that police officers had shot robbers.

The death of Mr Sharif has drawn condemnation in Kenya and Pakistan, with calls for speedy investigations.