A prominent Pakistani lawyer and a prominent human rights activist gun death by his partner in the high court in the north-west of the city of Peshawar. Police say the killer believes the victim was involved in his father’s murder.
Abdul Latif Afridi (Photo: Abdul Latif Afridi/Facebook, License)Abdul Latif Afridi, 79, is a vocal critic of the military and a former president of Pakistan’s Supreme Court Bar Association. He was shot from a distance by a co-worker wearing a court uniform.
“We have arrested the assailant immediately after the attack,” the police said. The suspect was identified as Adnan Sami Afridi, a junior lawyer who was close to the late Afridi. He shot the victim six times in the chest and did not escape after the attack. According to the police, there is a case pending against the deceased Afridi who is alleged to be related to the killing of the father of the person who was attacked.
Abdul Latif Afridi, who was a member of the national assembly from 1997 to 1999, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital minutes after the attack.
Osama Malik, a prominent human rights lawyer, told OCCRP that “the killing of Africans, in broad daylight, in the courthouse, has shocked the my brothers-in-law. This is a huge setback for human rights activists, lawyers and all those who support democratic values.”
“He was a mentor to lawyers like me, and we learned a lot from him every time we had the opportunity to meet,” Malik said. The killing of Afridi is a tragedy in the country that enforces human rights, he added.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the killing, saying Afridi was “a wise man and a brave politician who was known for his justice.”