Web Desk (LTN NEWS): The US insisted on Tuesday that Kenya investigate the killing of senior journalist and anchor Arshad Sharif on the outskirts of the capital, Nairobi, in an open way.
“We want the government of Kenya to look into his death in depth,” says a spokesman for the US State Department.
The Kenyan police say that Sharif was shot dead Sunday night after his car drove through a police barrier in the Magadi area.
The Kenyan government said the killing happened because the wrong person was killed. Pakistanis were outraged by the journalist’s death, and there have been calls to investigate why he was killed.
Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, asked the Kenyan government to look into what happened and expressed sadness over Sharif’s death. “The death of Arshad Sharif makes us very sad,” he said.
Read Senior Journalist Arshad Sharif shot dead in Kenya
“We want the Kenyan government to do a full investigation into his death. At this point, it’s not clear that we know all the details of what led to his death, but we do want a full investigation,” the spokesperson said while expressing sympathy to the grieving family and Pakistani journalists.
The US official was also asked what the US was doing to help journalists worldwide who were in danger.
Price said it is hard for him to say what we could do with a specific person. However, in the first place, we have programs worldwide to protect people exercising another universal right: the right to freedom of expression and the right to information.
“It’s clear from Arshad Sharif’s work that he cared deeply about the right to free speech, which took him all over the world. His work was well-known everywhere.”
He also said that USAID has programs that help governments worldwide protect these rights and support independent media.
Imran Khan’s disqualification
Price said the US cannot get involved in Pakistan’s internal politics when asked why Imran Khan was kicked out of the race.
“We can’t talk about how Pakistan’s legal system and political system are at odds with each other,” he said.
