On November 7th, trial proceedings in Nairobi began for a Kenyan police unit accused of assassinating Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif. The case was brought by the journalist’s widowed wife Javeria Siddique and two unions, the Kenya Union of Journalists and the Kenya Correspondents.
Arshad Sharif died just over a year ago, on October 23rd, 2022, when police shot him after a car he was in sped up and drove through a roadblock outside of Nairobi. The unit involved – the General Service Unit, (G.S.U.) – has called the case an accident and said Khan was mistaken for another target in a separate child abduction case. However, Siddique has denounced the death as a targeted assassination in response to her husband’s criticism of the government, highlighting the fear of persecution that forced Sharif to seek refuge in Kenya.
As a former anchor for the A.R.Y. News television channel in Pakistan, Sharif came under government scrutiny for an interview he conducted with Shahbaz Gill, a former aide to recently ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan. The state charged Gill with sedition for his comments suggesting that upper ranks of the military attempted to suppress pro-Khan sentiment and that junior ranks should reconsider following orders against their values, and he was arrested. A.R.Y. News was suspended for the interview, with Pakistani authorities opening an investigation against journalists involved – including Sharif.
If Sharif’s death was in fact an assassination, it would be one of many attacks on Pakistani journalists in recent years. In 2020, Pakistan ranked ninth on the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Global Impunity Index, with 15 unsolved murders of journalists pending since 2010. As of 2020, 61 journalists have been murdered in Pakistan since 1992.
Journalists in Pakistan have called on the international community to support journalists against government persecution. Absar Alam, a former journalist and government critic who was shot in Islamabad, condemns the international community’s “criminal silence.”
While freedom of the press is enshrined in Pakistan’s constitution, Pakistani media faces intense pressure from the state to suppress critics of government institutions, the judiciary, and particularly the military. While persecution of journalists was previously mainly confined to areas of conflict, major cities such as the capital of Islamabad have become increasingly dangerous for journalists; according to the Freedom Network, 34% of 148 violations against journalists were committed in Islamabad in 2021. Journalists are also being targeted in other ways, with an increasing number of legal cases being filed against journalists who criticize the state.
P.E.M.R.A. is the state’s media regulatory agency, responsible for the charges brought against Gill and A.R.Y. News and the investigation into journalists like Sharif. The agency was established in the early 2000s following the privatization of Pakistan’s media, with the purpose of preserving ethical standards. However, critics and many journalist advocacy organizations decry the agency as an extension of the Pakistani government and military used to suppress political dissent. In addition to sedition charges against Khan’s aide, P.E.M.R.A. banned Khan from appearing on television three times since his ousting in April 2022.
Before he was a victim of government censorship, Khan’s administration itself was heavily criticized for its suppression of political criticism. Prior to Khan, two other major political leaders – Altaf Hussain and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif – were also banned from T.V. for critical comments on the military. Thus, the increasingly dangerous conditions journalists face are not a result of any singular administration, but rather appear to demonstrate a broader trend in Pakistani politics. In particular, the consequences of criticizing the Pakistani military appear to be growing, as the military remains heavily influential behind the scenes of Pakistan’s civil institutions.
In a period of political turmoil after Imran Khan’s ousting from the government and in anticipation of elections in early 2024, the future of Pakistan’s media and the freedom of the press is at a potential crossroads.