Imprisoned in Vietnam: – Norway cannot accept this
By Mathias Revheim-Rafaelsen, Paal Wergeland, Torgeir Knutsen, Ole Kristian Alsaker
Original article in Norwegian ↗
Lawyer says the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs must bring Thuan Duc Nguyen home from Vietnam, where he is imprisoned.
IMPRISONED IN VIETNAM: Thuan Duc Nguyen is accused of terrorism and document forgery.
Published 17 Oct. at 18:12
The Norwegian-Vietnamese human rights defender Thuan Duc Nguyen (52), Australian Hiep Tran (51) and Vietnamese Thai Chong Truong Son (46) are imprisoned in Vietnam, charged with terrorism and document forgery.
Nguyen was born in Vietnam and came to Norway in 1989.
He disappeared in Cambodia on 18 September and subsequently turned up in Vietnamese custody. The family has reported both Vietnam and Cambodia to the Norwegian police for kidnapping.
Not until 7 October did the Norwegian authorities learn where Nguyen is being held in custody.
According to lawyer Maria Hessen Jacobsen, Nguyen and the others were in Cambodia to carry out human rights and pro-democracy work.
– We believe that the Vietnamese authorities must have been involved in transporting them to Vietnam from Cambodia, Jacobsen tells NRK.
According to Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security, Nguyen was arrested the same evening the family lost contact with him, writes VG in an article from 29 September.
They claim that Nguyen entered Vietnam illegally.
– They brought forged documents and entered Vietnam illegally to carry out terrorist and sabotage activities, claims Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security.
– We know that one of them says they were abducted. And we believe they have been subjected to what we call enforced disappearance and transnational repression, she continues.
– Never crossed the border
Jacobsen is referring to statements by Australian Hiep Tran. In a message to his own family, he says:
– I want you to know that I never entered Vietnam of my own accord. I never crossed the border. I am struggling mentally – traumatised and terrified by the situation.
This is in stark contrast to how the Vietnamese authorities, according to Jacobsen, portray the case. They claim that Tran and Nguyen tried to enter Vietnam illegally from Cambodia with false ID papers, she says.
– And then we and the family know that he was not going to Vietnam, he was going to do human rights work in Cambodia. And then he disappeared, says Jacobsen about Nguyen.
Opposition group
Nguyen is a member of the Vietnamese opposition organisation Viet Tan.
The Vietnamese authorities have classified the group as a terrorist organisation.
The maximum penalty for the terrorism charge in Vietnam is 15 years in prison.
– How does your client respond to these accusations?
– I don't know, because I have not been allowed to speak with him. What I have been told is that the Vietnamese authorities claim he has confessed. We have no faith in that, and have seen no evidence of it, says lawyer Jacobsen.
Nguyen is also registered as chair and board member of several Vietnamese organisations in Norway.
Brother worried
Nguyen's brother, Thien Duc Nguyen, is also engaged in work to promote democracy and human rights in Vietnam.
– We believe that my brother was in Cambodia to meet other activists who work to promote human rights and democracy in Vietnam, and then Vietnamese intelligence took him, says Thien.
Thien Duc Nguyen is worried about how his brother is doing in Vietnam. Photo: Helge Tvedten / NRK
The brother describes Thuan as a good brother and a kind father and son.
– He is a caring son who always looks after our parents. He is also socially engaged and active in the parish council in Lillestrøm, says Thien.
The family is very worried about Thuan and fears that he is not getting access to the medicine he needs.
– We know that he is having a hard time in prison. When the Norwegian authorities visited him, he was monitored and they said that he only gets diabetes medication in tablet form. That means he is not getting the medicine he needs, says Thien.
– What is your message to the Norwegian authorities?
– I hope that they raise it, and that Vietnam sees the seriousness of this. They must release Thuan and Hiep because they have not followed international law, says Thien.
News tip
Do you know anything about this or other cases?
Foreign Ministry involved
State Secretary Astrid Bergmål (Labour) of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in Vietnam this weekend. On Sunday she is expected to sign a free trade agreement between the country and the EFTA countries Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein, writes NTB.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking Nguyen's case extremely seriously, and Bergmål is raising it "at a high level in several meetings with Vietnamese authorities", the Ministry tells NRK on Saturday morning.
– Among other things, the Norwegian side expresses a clear expectation that the embassy receives regular consular access, that he receives legal assistance and proper medical care, the Ministry writes in a statement, which was first given to NTB.
– The embassy carried out a first consular visit to the imprisoned Norwegian citizen on Friday morning, the Ministry writes further.
– Cannot accept this
Lawyer Jacobsen does not trust that the embassy received enough information during the visit.
– Bullet points are provided in advance. What can be talked about and what cannot be talked about? It is monitored and he is not allowed to speak in his own language, claims Jacobsen.
Jacobsen believes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot come home from Vietnam with only a free trade agreement.
– Norway cannot be party to this. We cannot under any circumstances accept another country abducting our citizens. Norway must come home tomorrow not only with an agreement, but we must also bring him home on the plane, says Jacobsen.
Published 17 Oct. at 18:12