LAHORE: Friends and family members of missing journalist
Sajid Hussain Baloch said on Friday that his body was found in a river near the
Swedish city of Uppsala.

French news agency AFP quoted police spokesman Jonas Eronen
as saying that his body was found on April 23 in the Fyris river outside
Uppsala.

The journalist from Balochistan was working part-time as a
teacher in Uppsala, situated about 60km north of Stockholm, when he went
missing on March 2.

Taj Baloch, a close friend of the deceased, told Dawn from
Sweden that he was alerted by police, who had found a body in a river near
Uppsala city.

He said the body was said to have been decomposed to such an
extent that the person’s face could not be recognised, and the police
ascertained his identity through fingerprints and a jacket he was wearing.

“The police have said they will take some more days for
other reports to come in, such as on toxicology and other aspects which may
determine how Sajid may have fallen into the river,” said Taj Baloch.

“However, it should be noted that his body was found around
eight days ago, whereas our friend has been missing since March 2.”

He said it was strange that the journalist’s body had been
found from a river when the rivers had previously been searched but nothing had
come up.

A member of Sajid’s extended family said they were in no
position to speak to the media at present as they were told only on Thursday
night about the body’s discovery.

Taj said that because of the lockdown in Sweden none of
Sajid’s family members could collect the body, but he would help in sending his
body and belongings back to his hometown in Balochistan.

AFP quoted police spokesman Eronen as saying that Sajid
might not have been a victim of any crime. “The autopsy has dispelled some of
the suspicion that he was the victim of a crime,” he said.

The police spokesman added that while a crime could not be
completely ruled out, the death could equally have been the result of an
accident or a suicide.

“As long as a crime cannot be excluded, there remains the
risk that his death is linked to his work as a journalist,” Erik Halkjaer, head
of the Swedish branch of Reporters without Borders (RSF), told AFP.

According to the RSF, Sajid was last seen getting onto a
train for Uppsala in Stockholm. He went to Sweden in 2017 and secured political
asylum in 2019.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ)
issued a press statement urging the Pakistani government to direct its mission
in Sweden and to press the Swedish government for an impartial inquiry into the
journalist’s death.

An investigation should immediately be initiated into the
case, said the statement issued by PFUJ president Shahzada Zulfiqar and
secretary general Nasir Zaidi.

“It is a failure on the Swedish government’s part that they
did not protect Sajid, whose life was already under threat,” said Nasir Zaidi.
“We know that he was not safe while in Pakistan, and if this was a murder it is
most condemnable, and the murderers should be instantly arrested. It is also
shocking that a journalist was found dead in a country which advocates freedom
of speech and expression.”

Sajid Baloch had been under threat while working on missing
persons in Balochistan, after which he fled the country in 2012. He worked in
many countries, including Oman, Dubai and Uganda, after which he settled in
Sweden where he lived as a refugee for two years and received a citizenship in
2019. His family was in the process of joining him there.

In order to stop speculations, the Balochistan Times
website, which was founded by Sajid, released a statement on Friday, which
said: “Sajid, 39, was a prominent journalist and hailed from Balochistan… He
was compassionate and wrote extensively on the suffering of the Baloch people.
His work often got him into trouble as the authorities did not like his
reporting of Balochistan’s forbidden stories, the reason he had to leave and
live in exile.

“As a man, Sajid was kind and sympathetic. His support was
unconditional, his love undying… He leaves behind an extended family,
including his two children.”

Newspaper: Dawn

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