Arshad Sharif

Arshad Sharif was a Pakistani journalist and investigative reporter, who specialised in covering political and security issues in Pakistan and abroad. He was the host of the program Power Play on ARY News, where he exposed corruption, nepotism, and human rights violations by the powerful elites. He also worked for various newspapers and magazines as a columnist, editor, and film critic. He wrote several books on biography, religion, and philosophy, including biographies of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and Abdul Qadeer Khan, the latter of which led to his arrest and imprisonment on charges of official secret act. He used the pen name Prisoner 2627 to refer to himself in his books. He received the Pride of Performance Award in 2019 and the Agahi Award in 2012 for his contributions to journalism. He was shot and killed by police in Kenya on Oct. 23, 2022. A report by the Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency revealed the killing to be a “planned targeted assassination," claiming that Kenyan police were "used as instruments." He was an outspoken critic of the Pakistani army and the establishment.