Groups call for probe into shooting of activist

Human rights groups called for an investigation into the shooting of a political and social activist in Laos whose posts on Facebook criticised the South-East Asian nation’s communist government.

Initial reports, repeated by human rights groups, had said Anousa Luangsuphom, 25, was killed in the attack Saturday night at a coffee shop in Vientiane, the capital. But Human Rights Watch issued an update yesterday saying Anousa’s family and other sources provided evidence that he survived the shooting and was in a hospital receiving treatment.