Disputed facts

The murder of ARSHAD Sharif last month is taking on the characteristics of an Agatha Christie-style whodunnit, in which multiple suspects have motives and each has credible denial.
Undoubtedly, there seems to be more to it than first looks. Conflicting statements from the Kenyan police, who were responsible for the journalist’s death on the Nairobi-Magadi highway on October 23, fed rumours that a cover-up was in progress. The postmortem report, according to several Pakistani television outlets, purportedly shows signs of torture on the victim’s body.
The initial assertion of “mistaken identification” by the Kenyan police has been refuted by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, who has also categorically said that it was a “targeted killing.” On Friday, he accused Mr. Sharif’s hosts in Kenya of being involved in his death. An inquiry team sent by the government has returned from a fact-finding mission in Kenya after the ISI officer was removed by the agency’s chief to make its conclusions more “acceptable.”
The issue is that there is a huge lack of trust between the various parties, which makes any inquiry into Mr. Sharif’s death appear to be less than trustworthy, or at the very least likely to be perceived as such.
A judicial committee may have the support of all parties, but it is uncertain to what extent it could learn the truth—especially given how far away from Pakistani soil the incident took place.
However, the offenders must be identified and brought to justice while the truth is relentlessly pursued.
Journalists in Pakistan are aware that writing about or making comments on “sensitive matters” can make them targets. Many of them have experienced kidnapping and beatings; some have paid the ultimate price, yet hardly anyone has ever been held accountable for the crimes. However, media professionals could not have known that even if they fled abroad, danger would still follow them. During his eight years working for a private TV network, Mr. Sharif was regarded as a “pro-establishment” journalist; nevertheless, following the PTI’s conflict with the establishment, he recently made the decision to back Imran Khan wholeheartedly.
He was one of numerous journalists who had recently been the target of sedition prosecutions. It is worthwhile for the Pakistani government to urge one of the numerous international journalist organisations that have demanded an investigation into his murder, such as the International Press Institute, a leading global network of journalists, to ascertain the truth.