Czech govt says negotiating release of women kidnapped in Balochistan

Published October 16, 2013
The two Czech women were on the road from Iran to Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, when they were seized in March.—File Photo
The two Czech women were on the road from Iran to Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, when they were seized in March.—File Photo

PRAGUE: The Czech government is negotiating the release of two Czech women kidnapped in Pakistan in March, Czech President Milos Zeman said on Wednesday.

Zeman said the two women were alive and officials were negotiating in hope of getting them released.

Antonie Chrastecka and Hana Humpalova, who are both 24, were on the road from Iran to Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, when they were seized in March.

“I can only say they are currently somewhere between Pakistan and Afghanistan and currently their release is being negotiated,” Zeman told CTK news agency when asked about the case during a meeting with students in the Czech city of Kolin.

There has been no official word of their fate since a video given to a Czech TV station was broadcast in June showing the two demanding the release of Pakistani national Aafia Siddiqui.

Siddiqui, a neuroscientist, was given an 86-year sentence by a US court in 2010 for shooting at FBI agents and soldiers in Afghanistan.

The Czech foreign ministry declined to comment. Zeman’s spokeswoman was unavailable for comment.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.