Breaking the Silence: An Investigation into the Murder of Zubair Mujahid

Zubair Mujahid was a journalist from Mirpurkhas in Pakistan whose stories exposed corruption and human rights abuses. His stories and columns were published in the Daily Jang, an Urdu language newspaper based in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest urban centre. On 23 November 2007, Zubair was shot while he was sitting on the back of his colleague’s motorcycle, driving home after a long working day.

The A Safer World For The Truth initiative’s investigative team reviewed the official police files and interviewed twenty witnesses with the aim of uncovering new evidence to support the road to justice for Zubair. The investigation also included an analysis of Zubair’s publications prior to the murder, and threats he received in response to his writing. This report presents the findings of the investigation.

This report documents significant errors and anomalies in the investigations carried out by the Mirpurkhas police and by the Crime & Investigation Branch in Hyderabad. In light of these serious errors in the official murder investigation, the report concludes that a re-investigation of the murder is necessary to achieve justice for Zubair. Based on information gathered through our own investigation, the report identifies two potential avenues for further investigation.