Vietnam admits holding liberal advocate, mum on charges

The Vietnamese government confirmed Thursday September 8 it’s detaining a Vietnamese-American pro-democracy activist from San Jose who was arrested three weeks ago in Vietnam, as free-speech groups and a congresswoman lobbied to free him.
Vietnamese officials in Vietnam and Washington, D.C., said Cong Thanh Do is being held for violations of Vietnamese law, but declined to elaborate on the charges. Do’s “case is under investigation,” said a spokesman at the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Do was taken into “temporary detention” and is being held in HCM City, according to Nguyen The Cuong, spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy. While vacationing in central Vietnam with his wife and son, Do was arrested August 14 and accused of terrorist activities, his family said. A US Embassy spokesman in Vietnam said Wednesday the embassy there has not received any evidence that Do was involved in terrorist activities.
Do, a US citizen who is an engineer at Applied Materials, led a secret life as an activist advocating for a multiparty democratic system in his native homeland. Until his arrest, his family was unaware that he had posted his political views on the internet under a pen name, Nam Tran. Do told a US Consulate representative who visited him in jail that he is a member of the People’s Democratic Party of Vietnam, an internet group with members in the United States and Vietnam who use pseudonyms.
“It was dangerous what he was doing—look at where he is now,” said Do’s daughter, Bien Dobui, 21. “It doesn’t surprise us he kept it from us. We don’t feel hurt or betrayed at all.”
He regularly communicated with free-speech and human-rights organisations, including Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Amnesty International on developments in Vietnam. Those organisations have raised alarms on his arrest.
The terrorism accusations are “ludicrous,” said Bob Dietz, Asia programme director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Do has been a regular source for the group for several years, Dietz said.
“He wanted to democratise Vietnam,” Dietz said. “A lot of people who get caught in these ex-pat groups can become obsessive. He was just reliable and sensible about things, realising he was involved in long-term efforts.”
Do’s arrest is the most prominent in a recent string of arrests and harassment of political dissidents in Vietnam. The country’s communist government has stepped up its efforts to stifle political dissent on the internet in the past few years. Two other cyber-dissidents, both Vietnamese citizens and residents, were arrested in Vietnam the same day as Do, according to Amnesty International.
During his arrest, Do’s wife, Tien Jane Dobui, was allowed to see a copy of a handwritten letter accusing Do of planning to attack a US Consulate building in Vietnam. Signed by an individual unknown to the family, the letter also accused Do of being connected to an anti-communist group in Southern California, government of Free Vietnam. That group’s leader, Nguyen Huu Chanh, is wanted by the Hanoi government for an alleged failed bomb attempt on the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand. He was detained for three months in South Korea as a terror suspect and was freed last month to return home to Southern California.
Do’s family says he denies the charges. The family said the Garden Grove-based government of Free Vietnam sent them a letter stating he has never been a member of its organisation. The group could not be reached for comment Thursday September 8.
US Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, is working to secure Do’s release and is appealing to other congressional leaders for support. The State Department’s assistant secretary of consular affairs will be visiting Vietnam next week on a previously scheduled trip and plans to seek Do’s release, Lofgren’s office said.

 

Category: Society