Naveed Baloch was crossing a road in central Berlin on the evening of 19 December, having just left a friend’s house. He was halfway over it when, seeing a car heading towards him, he increased his speed. “I then realised it was a police car. I stopped when they beckoned to me, and showed them all the ID I had on me.”

They let him go but within seconds had called him back. Before he knew it he was in the back of the car, its lights flashing as it sped through Berlin. His hands were bound behind his back. Later that night, he said, he was blindfolded and taken from “one police station to another place” about 10 minutes away. He recalls two police officers “digging the heels of their shoes into my feet”, and one of the men “putting great pressure on my neck with his hand”.

They undressed him and took photographs. “When I resisted, they started slapping me.” They took three samples of his blood. A 24-year-old Pakistani identified only as Naveed B was named by German police and the interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, just hours after the deadly attack on a Christmas market on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz, as their prime suspect.



Speaking exclusively to the Guardian just over a week after being wrongly arrested for the attack which killed 12 and injured 48 others, Baloch is now in hiding, fearful for his life and no longer feeling safe in the country in which he sought refuge as a member of a secular separatist movement in Balochistan, a province that is a frequent target of religious extremists in Pakistan.

Members of his family in Pakistan have been contacted by the security services and have been receiving threatening phone calls following the widespread distribution of his photograph and name. “My family and I agree we would be safer if we speak out, and the sooner the better,” he said.

On the night he was arrested police brought in a translator who did not speak his native Balochi, but Punjabi and Urdu (the latter he understands a bit though cannot speak it much). Baloch said he was asked whether he knew what had happened in Berlin earlier that evening. “I said I didn’t know, and they told me: ‘Someone took a vehicle and drove it into a crowd killing many people. And you were behind the wheel of that truck, weren’t you?’

“I calmly told them I cannot drive at all. Neither can I even start a vehicle. I told them there’s death and war in my country; that’s why I ran away to seek help. You in Germany are providing us with food, medicine and safety. You are like my mother. If you find I was doing these things to your country, you should not give me an easy death, you should cut me up slowly.”

He said he could only assume they understood his answers, though he could not be sure because communication was very awkward.

On being questioned further he told them he was a shepherd by profession, that he had arrived from his Balochistan in February this year, and that he was a devout Muslim who prayed five times a day. They balked at his concern over a looming deadline to pay a fine he owed for fare-dodging on Berlin’s transport network days before. “They said to me: ‘You’re worried about paying a fine, when many people have been murdered?’ I told them I just didn’t want to get into trouble.”

During his time in custody, he said, they only gave him tea and biscuits. “But I could not eat. The biscuits were disgusting, and the tea was cold.” He slept on a wooden bed without a mattress, his hands bound behind his back on the first night. Having told him already on the night of the attack that they had doubts he was the man they were looking for – not least because there were no traces of blood or injuries on him, despite the bloody struggle that had evidently taken place between the driver and the Polish man from whom the truck had been hijacked – they told him he was free to go. “They explained to me that because I had run across the road when they picked me up, they had reason to believe I might be a criminal. I told them I understood.”

By the time Baloch had been told he was off the hook, the police were already looking for Anis Amri, a Tunisian whose documents had been found in the footwell of the Scania truck that had ploughed into the market and who was later shot dead by police officers in Milan. Like Baloch, Amri was 24 and dark-skinned, but there the similarities ended.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pictures of Anis Amri released by German police. Photograph: HO/AFP/Getty Images

After his release Baloch was taken to a hotel and told he was not to leave unless he informed the police, not because he was still under suspicion, but because his life might be in danger, and that he should under no circumstances return to the refugee shelter at the disused airport in the south of Berlin he had been living in. It had been raided by special forces in the early hours of Tuesday 20 December in the search for evidence to link Baloch to the murderous attack on Breitscheidplatz. There his friends waited anxiously and in vain for him to return.

Baloch agreed to meet the Guardian this week, above all because he now fears greatly for his safety, and that of his family back in the village of Mand in the Mekran region of Balochistan. He hoped that by telling his story he would be better understood – and safer. He fled the area of arid plains and mountains, a coastal strip of the Arabian Sea in the very south-west of Pakistan, around a year ago because of death threats he said he had received for his political activism on behalf of the Baloch National Movement, which strives for the independence of Balochistan from Pakistan.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest, most mineral-rich but also poorest province. Located on the border with Afghanistan, it has been dogged by an incessant cycle of violence and underdevelopment since India and Pakistan’s partition on gaining independence in 1947. The Baloch people – numbering around 13 million in Balochistan province – are a unique ethnolinguistic group who have been marginalised throughout history and many of whom desire independence from Pakistan.

Baloch, whose application for asylum is currently with the German authorities, is still waiting for a translator of Balochi, the main provincial language, to whom he can give a detailed account of his reason for seeking the legal protection of Germany. “When I get my chance, I will tell them that I have threats to my life in Pakistan, that some of my cousins who also belong to the same political party were killed by the security agencies, who picked them up, murdered them and dumped their bodies. Most of the people I worked with have been arrested and killed. I knew it was a matter of time before they came for me. That’s the reason I came to Germany.”

The Guardian cannot verify his account, but it chimes with reports from groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch detailing the suppression of Balochistanis by Pakistan’s intelligence agency as well as prominent massacres of Balochistanis for which Islamic State – which has a strong foothold in the province – and other jihadi groups have claimed responsibility.

During the two years before he paid human traffickers to smuggle him into Germany, Baloch went on the run, leaving his house one morning at 4am and roaming from village to village across the Mekran district, staying at party workers’ houses for an average of three to five days before moving on to avoid detection by security forces and intelligence. Despite this, he said, he was arrested and tortured by Pakistani forces in Balochistan last year, after which he left for Germany. His three-month journey took him on foot to Iran, then on to Turkey and Greece, before he arrived by train at Munich’s main station in February.

It took him three days to realise he was in Germany, a country he knew nothing about, he said. Even now, 10 months on, he knows very little about where he has landed, only that he would like to find work and learn the language.

Asked why in particular he chose Germany, Baloch replied: “We found an agent. It was not my choice; it was the traffickers who chose. I paid the agent something upfront, then my family kept paying him in instalments, which we were advised was a better method because so many people had been abandoned on the way, or had lost their lives.” The money was raised, he said, from the proceeds of the sheep and goats of the flock he had tended, which his parents sold once he had fled the village, along with a plot of land. Even then they had to borrow 100,000 of the total fee of 600,000 Pakistani rupees (£4,680, or $5,724).

Following his arrest it did not take long for the news to reach his family, via Pakistani media, that the Balochistani in question was their son.

“When I was released the first thing I did was to contact them,” Baloch said. “It was my mum who answered, via WhatsApp. She asked me: ‘Did the police torture you?’ I told her no, that I had been caught up in an investigation but that it was over now. Never did she suspect I had done anything wrong, despite the Pakistani media saying – and continuing to say – the German authorities had caught a terrorist from Balochistan.”

Much of the reporting continues to say that Baloch has brought the reputation of Pakistan into disrepute, because of German authorities identifying him as a Pakistani and failing to mention Balochistan.

Baloch’s non-appearance since his name was cleared has only fuelled speculation – both in Germany and Pakistan – that he might have somehow been involved in the attack after all. He has already been accused of sexual assault, a charge he vehemently denies. He has been told by police in no uncertain terms that his life might be in danger if he returns to his refugee shelter, possibly from Pakistani nationals there who might view him as an enemy of the state, or possibly from German rightwing extremists. He must stay on his own in the secret location provided for him by the police for the next two months, living on meals-on-wheels and having to inform the police every time he steps outside. He is not as concerned for his own safety, he said, as for his family – his parents, four brothers and five sisters – who earn their living from farming.

“Before the attack for which I was arrested, no one in Balochistan knew I had disappeared,” he said, dressed in a navy blue hooded sweatshirt, drinking a coffee with a gaunt look in his eyes as he nervously twisted a rolled up cigarette in his hand. “Now they all know I fled to Germany, fearful of my life, and that I am claiming asylum here. It leaves my family very vulnerable and there’s nothing I can do to protect them.”

He has been suffering from insomnia since his arrest, and while he is visited by fellow Balochistanis, he said that at night in particular he felt very alone and intensely anxious. “There is no knowing what they might do to my family.”

He cited the names of three political activists from his village who had applied for asylum in Germany but returned to Balochistan in May because they feared for their families, who had been threatened in their absence.

“The mere fact they had left in the first place made them a focus of suspicion,” Baloch said. “They were picked up by intelligence agents and they are still missing.”

The only solace he and around 10 fellow Balochistanis – asylum seekers from around Europe who have joined him in Berlin to give him support – have, he said, is that the incident might help highlight their underreported plight.

“In the meantime I just hope that one day they will stop associating my name with that terrible attack,” he said. “Thank goodness they found the man who did it.”

• This article was amended on 9 January 2017. An earlier version said Baloch was held for two days and one night. The period is contested; German police say he was held for 23 hours from 9pm on 19 December until about 8pm the following day.</s>Naveed Baloch, who was wrongly arrested in the connection with the Berlin truck attack which killed 12 people and injured 48 others, says he is in fear of his life.

Baloch who was released by German police is now in hiding.

Speaking to The Guardian, he said that he no longer felt safe in a country in a country in which he had sought refuge, having fled Pakistan because of is involvement with a a secular separatist movement in Balochistan, where attacks from religious extremists are commonplace.

On the night of his arrest Baloch was asked if he knew what had happened in the city, before being accused of having been at the wheel of the truck which ploughed into a Christmas market.</s>A man who was wrongly arrested over the terror attack on a Berlin Christmas market has said he fears for his life.

Naveed Baloch, 24, told the Guardian that he fears for his family’s safety after he was accused of driving a truck into a crowd, killing 12 people and leaving 48 people injured.

Mr Baloch, who is now in hiding for his safety, said he fled persecution as a member of the secular separatist movement in the Pakistani province of Balochistan, a group which is often targeted by religious extremists.

He said he is afraid his family will now be targeted because the Pakistani nationalists and religious extremists will know he has fled.

Mr Baloch told the paper: “Before the attack for which I was arrested, no one in Balochistan knew I had disappeared.

“Now they all know I fled to Germany, fearful of my life, and that I am claiming asylum here. It leaves my family very vulnerable and there’s nothing I can do to protect them.”

German police also believe Mr Baloch could be in danger from Pakistani nationals or German rightwing extremists.

Mr Baloch told how he was running across a road in central Berlin on December 19 to avoid a car when he realised it was a police vehicle.

He said he was beckoned over by police who asked to see his ID.

The police initially let him go before calling him back and arresting him, tying his hands behind his back and stuffing him in the back of the car.

Mr Baloch told the paper how two police officers “dug the heels of their shoes into my feet” and how one “put great pressure on my neck with his hand.”

Later, at a police station, he was told to undress before they started taking pictures. Mr Baloch said: “When I resisted, they started slapping me.”

Within hours police and German interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, had identified Naveed B as their prime suspect.

He was released when no evidence linked him to the truck and he was found to be uninjured after what would have been a violent struggle between the Berlin attacker and the lorry’s driver.

​By the time they cleared Mr Baloch of all blame police were already searching for Anis Amri, 24, a Tunisian whose documents had been found in the footwell of the truck which had ploughed into the market.

On December 23 Mr Amri, who is believed to be behind the terror attack, was shot dead by police officers in Milan.</s>The Pakistani man wrongly arrested for the Berlin Christmas market truck attack on Friday said he had told German police he could not even drive and was now afraid for the safety of his family back home.

Naveed Baloch, an asylum-seeker from the troubled province of Balochistan, told the Guardian newspaper he had just left a friend's house and was crossing a street when he saw a police car approaching fast and picked up his pace.

He said he was arrested and taken to a police station, where he was undressed and photographed.

"When I resisted, they started slapping me," the 24-year-old, who has been living in a secret location provided by police since his release because he says he is afraid for his life, told the British daily.

Baloch, who sought refuge in Germany as a member of a secular separatist movement in Balochistan, said he struggled to communicate because no translator could be found who could speak his native Balochi.

"I calmly told them I cannot drive at all. Neither can I even start a vehicle," he said.

Baloch was arrested on December 19 in the hours after the attack on a Christmas market in the heart of Berlin in which 12 people were killed.

Police released him 24 hours later, after failing to find evidence of his involvement.

German authorities have since identified rejected Tunisian asylum-seeker Anis Amri as the prime suspect in the Berlin attack.

Amri was shot dead by Italian police on December 23 after fleeing a manhunt in Germany.

Following the publication of the Guardian interview, Berlin police strongly denied that Baloch had been assaulted.

In a statement, police said they had asked Baloch about the allegations on Friday and that he "clearly stated he had not been beaten, injured or mistreated while in custody".

The statement also noted that there was no professional translator present during the Guardian interview.

Baloch, a shepherd by profession, told the daily that members of his family in the village of Mand in Balochistan in southwest Pakistan had received threatening phone calls following his arrest.

"Now they all know I fled to Germany, fearful of my life, and that I am claiming asylum here. It leaves my family very vulnerable and there's nothing I can do to protect them," he told the Guardian.

Baloch said he left Pakistan around a year ago, arriving in Germany via Iran, Turkey and Greece, because of death threats he had received for his activism for the Baloch National Movement.

"Most of the people I worked with have been arrested and killed. I knew it was a matter of time before they came for me. That's the reason I came to Germany," he said.</s>Naveed Baloch was arrested on December 19 in the hours after the attack on a Berlin Christmas market</s>LONDON:The Pakistani man wrongly arrested for the Berlin truck attack yesterday said he had told German police he cannot even drive, and is now afraid for the safety of his family back home.

Mr Naveed Baloch, an asylum seeker from Balochistan province, told the Guardian newspaper he had just left a friend's house when he saw a police car approaching fast, and picked up his pace.

He said he was arrested and taken to a police station, where he was undressed and photographed.

"When I resisted, they started slapping me," the 24-year-old, who has been living in a secret location provided by police since his release because he said he is afraid for his life, told the British daily.

Mr Baloch, who sought refuge in Germany as a member of a secular separatist movement in Balochistan, said he struggled to communicate because they could not find a translator to speak his native Balochi.

"I calmly told them I cannot drive at all. Neither can I even start a vehicle," he said.

Mr Baloch was arrested on Dec 19 in the hours after the attack on a Christmas market in the heart of Berlin that killed 12 people.

Police released Mr Baloch 24 hours later, after failing to find evidence of his involvement.

Mr Baloch, a shepherd by profession, said members of his family in the village of Mand in Balochistan in south-west Pakistan had received threatening phone calls following his arrest.

"Now they all know I fled to Germany, fearful of my life, and that I am claiming asylum here.

"It leaves my family very vulnerable and there is nothing I can do to protect them," Mr Baloch told the Guardian.

He said he left Pakistan around a year ago, arriving in Germany via Iran, Turkey and Greece, because of death threats he had received for his activism for the Baloch National Movement.

"Most of the people I worked with have been arrested and killed. I knew it was a matter of time before they came for me. That is the reason I came to Germany," he said.

Balochistan province has been plagued for decades by a separatist insurgency and sectarian killings.</s>A man who was wrongly arrested for the lorry attack on a Berlin Christmas market said he now fears for his life in both Germany and his native Pakistan.

Naveed Baloch has been warned by German police that he might be targeted by right-wing extremists.

But he told The Guardian that he has also been forced to live in a secret location away from his former home in a refugee camp because police fear he maybe attacked by his fellow countrymen, who might view him as an enemy of the state.

Mr Baloch was arrested in connection with the 19 December attack when a lorry veered into a busy Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 48.

The 24-year-old who is seeking asylum from Pakistan – was later released after the police authorities admitted they had the “wrong man”.

Anis Amri, a Tunisian whose documents had been found in the lorry, was then identified as a suspect. He was later killed in a shootout with Italian police in Milan.

Despite his release, Mr Baloch said that parts of the Pakistani media have continued to implicate him for the attack. Some have said that he brought shame on his home nation.

Mr Baloch is a member of a secular separatist movement in Balochistan, a province in the south west of Pakistan with a precarious security situation. Frequent violent attacks have taken place.

He said he was forced to flee the region after receiving death threats for his political activism.

Now his waiting for a translator who speaks his native Balochi, so he can make his case for asylum to the German authorities.

“I will tell them that I have threats to my life in Pakistan," he told The Guardian. "Some of my cousins who also belong to the same political party were killed by the security agencies, who picked them up, murdered them and dumped their bodies."

"I knew it was a matter of time before they came for me," he added, "That’s the reason I came to Germany.”

Following the Berlin massacre he also worries about the safety of his family, who live in the village of Mand in the Mekran region of Balochistan.

“Before the attack for which I was arrested, no one in Balochistan knew I had disappeared,” he said.

“Now they all know I fled... It leaves my family very vulnerable and there’s nothing I can do to protect them."</s>In the hours after the Berlin attack, police apprehended a Pakistani refugee. He turned out to be the wrong man. He has now spoken about his treatment and his fears of how the mix-up will affect his life....
• In the last 1 day
• Tunisian freed by Berlin attack police BBC News Africa (Yesterday) - German police release a Tunisian man after questioning him over last week's Berlin market attack....
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• Suspects in attack on Berlin homeless man turn themselves in DW World (3 days ago) - A group of men, suspected of trying to set a homeless man on fire have...</s>Kannur (Kerala), Dec 28 (IANS) As part of drumming up support for setting up a ‘government in exile’, Baloch International Women’s Forum leader Naela Quadri Baloch has said they were in no hurry for it.

Baloch, who arrived here on Tuesday night as part of her effort at garnering support across the country, will speak on Wednesday at a public meeting in Thalassery near here.

The meeting is being organised under the aegis of ‘Brennen Vibrant’, an organisation of the old activists of the RSS’s students wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad at Brennen College in Thalassery.

“Our goal is to set up a government in exile and we are in no hurry for that. We all know that it’s a long way ahead and we are now laying the foundation for it,” she said.

“What has come as a joy for us is that the people of Varanasi have extended their support to us and we wish to set it up there. We are also seeking the support of the Indian government for it,” said Baloch.

Baloch has been travelling across India and by now she has already addressed meetings in Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Chandigarh and Bengluru.

“I should say that at all these places the response was overwhelming, especially from the youths. What we are basically doing now is to garner support for our movement. As Balochis, we are now also connecting to our people who are settled across the world. In all we are about 40 million,” she said.

Several Baloch leaders from Pakistan and from other countries have begun visiting New Delhi since Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address on August 15 highlighted the Baloch issue.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province in terms of area, has witnessed a long-running insurgency for which Islamabad blames New Delhi.

Baloch, however, downplayed some reactions from her own people about her own role.

“I do not claim to be the leader. Our aim is to work together and at the moment we should not be wasting time on such things,” she said.</s>All year round, different communities in Pakistan indulge in celebrations and rejoice their respective occasions with exuberance and glee. Among all the minorities, Christmas is the most widely celebrated festival in Pakistan. Be it the high end shopping malls and eateries, or the ‘galli -muhallas,’ one cannot miss the flashy décor of Christmas. From imported Christmas trees and expensive ornaments to affordable ‘Made in Pakistan’ décor or that supplied from China market, there’s not even a single place that doesn’t display Christmas accessories.

The most exciting part, besides Christmas pageants, human-made Crib depicting the Nativity, and Carol singing, is the Christmas décor competition. This doesn’t only happen in big cities, it’s an important activities in small towns and villages. Sikandar Farman, Counsellor from Bhalwal district Sargodha said, “Such activities particularly involve the youth and give them a chance to do something healthy. Because it also involves elders and children, it helps bridge generation gap while ensuring mutual respect.”

Dexter Miller of Mecca Colony Gulberg was appointed the judge from his parish. He said that it’s encouraging to see how everyone, regardless of their faith, comes together to decorate the colony on both Eid and Christmas. It builds a harmonious environment which endorses peaceful coexistence. One simply cannot miss the ‘Star of David’ shining high above the rooftops, especially while travelling over flyovers that overlook Christian majority colonies.

Christmas shopping, like world over, begins in late October. If you’re wise, you wouldn’t miss the chance to grab reasonably priced Christmas décor and accessories from major bazars like Shah Alam market and Anarkali. The same goes for other cities with whole sale markets. Trust me, the quality is as good as the ones you find in contemporary shops although destination locations definitely have even better but highly priced products. But if you missed the chance, one could always drop by at the shop of Daughters of St Paul, which is a missionary source available across the world. Absolutely affordable, Christmas products available here are rare and exquisite.

As Christmas celebrations continue till the feast of Epiphany, which falls on January 6th, the bliss in the air is filled with joyful glee. The community is especially grateful to the government for making Christmas extra special by initiating ‘Christmas Peace Train.’ To signify national solidarity with Pakistani Christians on this important religious festival, the Christmas Peace Train is carrying about 60 Christians from various cities and town. The train, which departed on Dec 22 from Islamabad on a 15-day countrywide tour, made its first major stop in Peshawar. The train is an initiative of the railways and human rights ministries and is scheduled to reach Karachi on Dec 31 while stopping at various main stations of villages, towns and cities throughout the provinces. The entire décor, from artwork to interiors, is done fabulously. Nothing has been missed out – including our very own Pakistani Santa. Note that this is the first train launched in South Asia as a part of Christmas celebrations.

Dr Khalid Zaheer, fellow Al-Mawrid, believes that such gestures inspire coexistence and interfaith harmony. He commented, “Saying Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas to a Christian is no problem. In fact, it’s likely to bring the two individuals together. Greeting anyone from another faith doesn’t mean we are accepting their faith, it only means we are wishing them well. It is good to have healthy relationships with each other to promote co-existence and peace, especially because this is what we have been asked to do in our religion. Therefore, greeting Merry Christmas or anyone else on their religious or cultural festival does not affect our religious commitments and creed. To ensure interfaith harmony it’s important to support interfaith dialogue in order to understand each other and live in peace.”

Similarly, Peaceful Pakistan – an initiative of the Government of Punjab, aiming to promote coexistence and interfaith harmony visited various Churches during the Christmas season. The team paid a special visit to the Daughters of St Paul where they met with missionaries and individuals from here and abroad. Rachel Elma, a British educationist in Pakistan who works for the Diocese of Raiwand-The Church of Pakistan, shared her views saying, “I came back to Pakistan in 2015. I enjoy being in Pakistan especially during Christmas time. The people are very nice and friendly. I like going for long walk in the park where I meet strangers who are so nice and polite to me. I wish a Happy Christmas to everyone in Pakistan.”

The best part is that individuals too showed unity with the community by taking to social media to celebrate the festivity of the season. Madiha Saail, Creative Director of Project Rich, showed unity and peace by sharing the special ‘Reindeer’ from Project Rich collection.

Moin Khan, famously known for ‘A Different Agenda,’ disguised as Santa Claus and visited those who need a very Merry Christmas the most. His video ‘Jingle Bells’ available on his page conveyed the message of peace and love. He took to Facebook saying, “Only individuals can change the way we treat one another. A very merry Christmas to all our Pakistani Christian brothers and sisters, we stand with you!Pakistan Zindabad!”

Among the hangouts that overflow with crowds enjoying the season, Avari Hotel won the heart of visitors with its exclusive Christmas brunch that offered a variety of cuisines from its five top eateries. But that wasn’t all. The sky high Christmas tree with traditional Christmas music created an aura and ambiance of typical Christmas ecstasy. Earlier on, St Mary’s Church choir led by the parish priest Rev Fr Patrick Samuel was invited to elevate the Christmas spirit.

Christmas glee in Pakistan has its own significance. It’s a blend of various cultural traditions too. One can clearly witness the century-and-a half old bakery Mohkamdin in Lahore’s Anarkali overflowing with customers placing their orders weeks in advance. Shezan, among all other bakeries, is best known for keeping tradition of Christmas confectionary alive. Not to forget the traditional homemade cuisine that strengthens the bond between families and loved ones! While the Anglo Indian community, the Goans, and the locals have their own specialties, one of the famous cuisines are ‘Goja or Gujiya’ made among the Urdu speaking Christian community. If you ever get a chance to visit any of your acquaintances or friends, don’t miss it. Go and see how beautiful the cultural diversity of Pakistan is. And yes, it will also serve as an evidence that Pakistan is a peaceful country with a nation that is striving to strengthen coexistence and national unity.
Naveed Baloch, the man from Pakistan who was wrongly arrested in the aftermath of the recent attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, gives an interview outlining the conditions in which he was held and reveals he is now in hiding amid fears for his life.