Activists vanished, shot, murdered

Taking up the mantle: People walking in front of the Patuxai war monument in the centre of Vientiane. Laos is set to lead Asean next year. — AFP

An isolated murder, a brutal attempted killing and a murky disappearance: Laotian activists have been caught up in a series of alarming recent incidents that have spooked the reclusive communist state’s embattled dissident community.

Laos is one of the world’s most repressive countries, with independent civil society barely present, free media non-existent and rare protests quickly dispersed.