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World

Vietnam arrests three on terrorism charges, including Norwegian and Australian citizens

Vietnam police have arrested three people — including a Norwegian citizen and an Australian national — accusing them of terrorism, in an operation a pro-democracy group says was an abduction in Cambodia.

By Sarah Whitfield · · 2 min read

Vietnamese police have arrested three people, including a Norwegian citizen and an Australian national of Vietnamese origin, accusing them of terrorism — in an operation that a pro-democracy group says was conducted in Cambodia.

The three men were identified by Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security late on Monday as Nguyen Duc Thuan, Ho Pham Hiep Huy and Thai Cong Truong Son. The ministry said they were arrested on September 18 trying to cross illegally from Cambodia into Vietnam.

The ministry said the men had admitted to being members of Viet Tan, a US-based pro-democracy group that Vietnam’s Communist government designates as a terrorist organisation. They were “illegally entering Vietnam to conduct terrorist and sabotage activities”, the ministry said, and were also accused of forging seals and documents. Thuan, born in 1974, was carrying a Norwegian passport, and Huy, born in 1975, was carrying an Australian passport, the ministry said. It gave no nationality details for Son, born in 1980.

Viet Tan said in a statement late on Monday that Thuan and Huy — also known as Tran Hiep — had been abducted in Cambodia and forcibly taken to Vietnam. It said the pair disappeared in Cambodia on the morning of September 18 while travelling to Kaoh Andaet, an area in the south of the country adjacent to the Vietnamese border.

“Viet Tan strongly condemns the abduction of two of its members in Cambodia and the fabricated charges issued by the Vietnamese communist authorities to cover up an act of transnational repression,” the group said. It called on the governments of Norway and Australia, as well as international human rights organisations, to press Hanoi for the men’s immediate and unconditional release.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Adelaide that the government was providing consular assistance to Huy and his family. The Norwegian embassy in Hanoi referred Reuters’ queries to the government in Oslo. A Cambodian government spokesperson said he had no information about the arrests.

Vietnamese authorities said the investigation was continuing and that the men would be prosecuted in accordance with the law. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sources

More on this topic: all World stories

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