Video featuring kidnapped Czechs urges release of jailed Pakistani
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 26 June 2013 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Video featuring kidnapped Czechs urges release of jailed Pakistani, 26 June 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/51e79b638.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
June 26, 2013
Hana Humpalova (left) and Antonie Chrastecka were kidnapped in Pakistan in March.
A hostage video of two Czech women abducted more than three months ago in Pakistan has demanded the release of a Pakistani scientist jailed in the United States.
The clip, released on June 26, shows Antonie Chrastecka and Hana Humpalova demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a neuroscientist serving an 86-year prison term in the United States.
The video, which is less than two minutes long, shows Humpalova appealing to "all Czech people and the European Union to make every effort for cooperation."
She says that the video is being recorded on April 16, "after one day [sic] of Boston [Marathon] bomb blast in U.S.A."
The Czech Foreign Ministry said it had seen the tape and was analyzing it.
The two young women were kidnapped near the Afghan border in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan in March.
There had been no news of their fates since the kidnapping.
No one has claimed responsibility for the abduction.
Based on reporting by Reuters and idnes.cz
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
