Hundreds protest after the president of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, confirmed the murder of three kidnapped journalists from the newspaper El Comercio, in Quito, Ecuador on April 13, 2018. NurPhoto/ Press Association. All rights reserved.In the spring issue of the Index on Censorship magazine, we interviewed Aasim Saaed, who was kidnapped and held in captivity for 21 days last year. He said his kidnapping departed from the past because it was carried out by state forces, rather than the more commonplace accomplices – extremists.
“People are definitely scared. Another guy was picked up recently,” he added.
Saaed joins a cohort of abducted journalists and dissidents in the country. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, since 2011 more than 3,500 such disappearances have occurred.
