A district and sessions court in Pakistan, on Saturday, issued arrest warrants for murdered journalist Arshad Sharif's wife, Summaiya Arshad and producer Ali Usman for failing to honour summons.
According to a publication by Express Tribune, Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the International New York Times, the two were summoned as witnesses to provide information about the murder case.
During the hearing, Justice Umar Ata Bandial sought to understand why Sharif was in Kenya before his demise.
The judge also directed the course of the investigations, instructing Pakistani detectives to examine the vehicle in which the journalist was killed and produce an independent report about his death.
The Pakistani Ministry of Affairs informed the court that the case could not proceed without mutual cooperation with Kenya for a seamless investigation process.
On the other hand, Sharif's lawyer had requested the formation of a judicial commission to ensure a fair and transparent probe, a prayer which is still under review.
According to Sharif's family, high-ranking officials in the Pakistani government were responsible for coordinating the murder of their kin in Kenya.
Through a petition to the district court, the family sought to include five officials in the investigations.
However, the petition was rejected after the court said in the order that the request was unacceptable and would not help with the case.
Sharif, one of the renowned Pakistani anchors, fled the country in August 2022 to avoid arrest after being critical of its government.
The journalist is said to have moved to Dubai and later relocated to Kenya. In October 2022, he was shot dead past a police roadblock on the Nairobi-Magadi road.
The investigation was taken up by Kenya's Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and, subsequently, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).
In an initial report, the Kenyan police attributed his shooting to a mistaken identity case.
Pakistani detectives, however, alleged that their Kenyan counterparts were involved in a cover-up and were protecting Sharif's killers, implying the possibility of high-ranking officers being alibis.
