World · East Asia & Pacific · 3 hrs ago
Australian campaigner held in Vietnam remains out of contact, wife says
Tran Hiep, a Melbourne-based Australian democracy campaigner, has been held in Vietnam since authorities detained him last month.
He is in a pre-trial detention centre in Ho Chi Minh City and has not been in contact with his wife, Chloe Dang.
Vietnamese authorities accuse him of terrorism and forging identity documents, and say he is linked to Viet Tan, which Vietnam labels a terrorist group.
Human Rights Watch has described Viet Tan as an opposition party that operates openly and lawfully in several countries, including Australia.
Dang and Hiep’s lawyer believe Vietnamese authorities took him from Cambodia, but Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities deny that this happened.
His wife wants him released, while Australia’s foreign affairs department is providing consular assistance and Foreign Minister Penny Wong says she has made personal representations.
Hiep is awaiting trial, but the sources give no date for court proceedings.
Australian democracy campaigner Tran Hiep remains out of contact after Vietnamese authorities detained him, his wife says.
Hiep was arrested last month on alleged terrorism and identity-document forgery offences.
His wife, Chloe Dang, says Australian authorities told her he is being held at the B34 pre-trial detention centre in Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnamese authorities say Hiep was arrested while entering Vietnam from Cambodia; Cambodian authorities deny involvement in the arrest.
Human rights advocates and Hiep’s family say he was abducted in Cambodia, a claim denied by Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities.
- Who
- Tran Hiep, an Australian democracy campaigner. His wife is Chloe Dang.
- What
- Hiep is detained in Vietnam and remains out of contact, according to his wife.
- When
- He was detained in September; the article says he has not been heard from since mid-September.
- Where
- He is being held at the B34 pre-trial detention centre in Ho Chi Minh City, according to Australian authorities.
- Why
- Vietnamese authorities accuse him of terrorism and forging identity documents.
Hiep’s family and human rights advocates
Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities
Account of arrest
Hiep’s family and human rights advocates
The family and advocates believe Hiep was abducted by Vietnamese authorities in Cambodia.
Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities
Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities deny that this happened.
Public response
Hiep’s family and human rights advocates
Human rights advocates say Australia should speak out and seek an independent investigation.
Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities
Australia’s foreign affairs minister said she had made personal representations but would be careful about what she said publicly.
I will not stop worrying until I hear from him or see him with my own eyes,
This is an egregious case of transnational oppression in which an Australian citizen has been kidnapped from a third country – Cambodia – and forcibly taken to Vietnam,
We know that different political regimes in the region have very different approaches to individual freedom and political freedom to that Australia takes,
increasingly concerned about the worsening human rights situation in Vietnam
Hiep failed to board his flight from Phnom Penh, where he had been meeting human rights defenders.
Vietnamese authorities detained Hiep, and he has not been heard from since, according to the article.
Vietnamese authorities confirmed Hiep was in jail awaiting trial.
Dang was told by Australian authorities that Hiep was being held at the B34 detention centre in Ho Chi Minh City.
Hiep spent his 51st birthday alone in detention, Dang said.
- Age
- 51
- Detention centre
- B34 pre-trial detention centre, Ho Chi Minh City
- Arrest
- September, according to the article
- Alleged offences
- Terrorism and forging identity documents
- Other people named as arrested
- Nguyen Duc Thuan and Thai Cong Truong Son
- Australian consular assistance
- The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is assisting Hiep’s family
Sources
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