Vietnamese-Australian charged with terrorism in Việt Nam after disappearing in Cambodia

Vietnamese authorities say they have arrested three people who illegally entered from Cambodia and are being investigated for terrorism. Meanwhile, Viet Tan and the family of an Australian citizen in the group say their relative was abducted in Cambodia and taken back to Viet Nam.

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A Vietnamese-Australian man in Melbourne, identified as Hồ Phạm Hiệp Huy, also known as Trần Hiệp, has been charged and detained by Vietnamese security agencies, after his family and colleagues said they lost contact with him in Cambodia on 18 September.

Media in Việt Nam, citing the Security Investigation Agency of Việt Nam's Ministry of Public Security on 28 September, showed that Mr Huy is among three people charged for investigation on terrorism-related offences and forgery of documents.

However, this account differs from information provided by the family and the Viet Tan party.

The family said Mr Trần Hiệp, 50, travelled to Phnom Penh from Bangkok on 15 September with Mr Nguyễn Đức Thuận, a Norwegian citizen. The two men reportedly went to Cambodia to meet Vietnamese human rights activists.

The family said the last contact with the two men was on the morning of 18 September. They did not board their flight back to Bangkok the following morning.

Việt Nam says three people arrested while entering illegally

Vietnamese media, citing Việt Nam's Ministry of Public Security, said that at around 9:50 pm on 18 September, the Mỹ Quý Tây Border Gate Border Guard Station in Tây Ninh province detected and arrested three people whom authorities said were illegally entering Việt Nam from Cambodia.

The three were identified as Nguyễn Đức Thuận, born in 1974 in Lâm Đồng; Hồ Phạm Hiệp Huy, born in 1975 in Hồ Chí Minh City; and Thái Công Trường Sơn, born in 1980 in Đồng Tháp.

Information provided by the Ministry of Public Security said Mr Nguyễn Đức Thuận was carrying two fake citizen identity cards in the name of Phan Đức Trung, along with a Norwegian passport in the name of Nguyễn Đức Thuận.

Mr Hồ Phạm Hiệp Huy was carrying an Australian passport in the name of Tran Hiep.

On 19 September, the three were handed over to the Security Investigation Agency of the Tây Ninh Provincial Police, after which the case files and the individuals were transferred to the Security Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security.

Tuổi Trẻ newspaper, citing information from the Ministry of Public Security that SBS could not verify, said “all three confessed to being members of Viet Tan, carrying fake documents to illegally enter Việt Nam to carry out terrorist and sabotage activities”.

The Security Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security decided to initiate a criminal case, charge the suspects and order the detention of all three for investigation on charges of “terrorism” under Clause 2, Article 299 and “forging seals and documents of agencies and organisations” under Clause 2, Article 341 of the Penal Code.

On the same day, the Supreme People's Procuracy approved the above decisions to charge the suspects and the detention orders.

Viet Tan rejects the accusations

Meanwhile, the Viet Tan party asserts that Mr Trần Hiệp and Mr Nguyễn Đức Thuận had no intention of entering Việt Nam, but were abducted in Cambodia and taken across the border into Việt Nam.

In a statement, the US-headquartered organisation alleged that its members had been abducted, calling it “a serious act of transnational repression, violating Cambodia's sovereignty and breaching fundamental principles of international law", and rejected the accusation that the two men carried fake documents to enter Việt Nam to carry out terrorist activities.

Dr Phong Nguyễn, Viet Tan's representative in Australia, told SBS "the two flew from Bangkok to Phnom Penh on 15 September to meet Vietnamese activists. They last contacted their families on the morning of 18 September and were expected to return to Bangkok on 19 September".

Viet Tan said in a statement that the Vietnamese government's accusations are a "blatant fabrication to cover up the abduction of Viet Tan members in Cambodia and their forcible return to Việt Nam".

Viet Tan also called on the Australian and Norwegian governments to request direct access to the two men to confirm their condition and safety.

So far, in publicly released information, there is no independent evidence that the two men were abducted in Cambodia, nor is there independent public evidence confirming the full extent of Việt Nam's allegations about the purpose of the trip.

SBS News sent a request for comment to the Embassy of Việt Nam in Canberra but did not receive a response before broadcast.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is urgently working with Vietnamese authorities to verify reports of the detention of an Australian citizen. We are providing consular assistance to the citizen's family.

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, DFAT

Mr Trần Hiệp's family worried

Mr Trần Hiệp's wife, Mrs Chleo Đặng, said she waited for her husband at Bangkok airport but he did not appear.

She said their last conversation was when he called to check on her and make sure she was safe.

“He always knew there were risks in doing human rights work, but we never thought this would happen,” Mrs Chleo told SBS Vietnamese.

Mrs Chleo Đặng also said she has contacted the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, known as DFAT, every day to seek information about her husband.

What kind of organisation is Viet Tan?

Viet Tan's website explains that “the Vietnam Reform Revolutionary Party (known as Viet Tan) was founded on 10 September 1982, to unite individual struggle efforts into a combined strength to confront the Vietnamese Communist dictatorship.”

Viet Tan has been designated a terrorist organisation by the Vietnamese government since 2016 and is banned from operating in Việt Nam, while the party has always maintained that it “pursues a non-violent method of struggle.”

The Viet Tan party operates legally in Australia and is not on Australia's list of terrorist organisations.

This is not the first time an Australian citizen linked to Viet Tan has been arrested in Việt Nam.

In 2019, Australian citizen Châu Văn Khảm, a Viet Tan member, was arrested in Việt Nam after entering the country with fake documents. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for terrorism but was released early and returned to Australia in July 2023.