Baloch journalist dies mysteriously in Sweden, raises suspicion about reason for death

Sajid Hussain, a Baloch journalist whose decomposed body was found on the Fyris River in Uppsala, Sweden has raised questions about the cause of his death, as he is suspected to have been killed by private agents who were working on the orders of the Pakistan embassy in Stockholm.

His disappearance for the last fifty days was a subject of investigation for the Uppsala police, working under the Swedish National Unit against Organized Crime (NUOC). The taking over of Hussain’s case by NUOC, Sweden, becomes significant as it deals with combating organised, cross-border crime and to seek international co-operation between prosecutors.

Official sources have reported that they have found video footage of March 2nd from surveillance cameras, concluding that Hussain had taken a train from Stockholm to Uppsala, and handing over a bag to people in a rented apartment. He was last seen at a petrol pump, post which he had gone completely missing.

After moving from Pakistan, Hussain had started an online magazine called the Balochistan Times reporting about the forced missing cases in Balochistan.

Hussain’s associate from Sweden has been quoted saying “He went missing on 2 March, his body was found on 23 April. Where was he all these days? He knew how to swim, he was very much happy in his life. It is clear that he was executed somewhere else and the body dumped in the river. Such crimes do not take place in Sweden. It is a message that has been given by the ISI to all the dissenters.”

“He had good contacts in Balochistan and would get solid information from the ground and develop a story. Obviously, this was not liked by people sitting in GHQ, Rawalpindi,” his associate added.

In a letter to the EU, officials from the European commission had accused the ISI of silencing human rights defenders and journalists in Europe. Investigations are underway to uncover this issue.