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Chau Van Kham warns that Australian activist Hiep Tran faces years in prison after being arrested on terrorism charges in Vietnam, citing Kham's own four-year detention as a precedent.
Chau Van Kram spent more than four years detained in Vietnam on similar charges to those Hiep Tran was arrested over this week. Chau Van Kham was detained in Vietnam for years on terrorism charges and is concerned human rights activist Hiep Tran faces a similar fate following his arrest by Vietnam ese authorities.
Mr Kham was initially sentenced to 12 years in jail before negotiations through his lawyer and Australian government figures secured his release. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government was providing consular support to Mr Tran's family. A man who faced a similar fate to Australian human rights activist Hiep Tran, who has been charged with terrorism offences in Vietnam, says he believes his friend is facing years behind bars.
Chau Van Kham was released in 2023 after being detained in Vietnam for four and a half years on terrorism charges.is likely facing squalid conditions inside prison, with his every movement watched by an officer from the secret police.
"The heat, no fan, the lights are very small, no sunshine … it was a 12-metre square room for two people, including toilet, bathroom. "Mr Tran, 50, from Melbourne, was charged this week after being abducted in Cambodia, according to his family. Vietnamese authorities allege he was caught trying to cross the border illegally with forged documents.
Mr Tran is a member of Viet Tan, a pro-democracy organisation the Vietnamese government considers a terrorist group, and was in Cambodia to meet with fellow human rights activists. A Norwegian colleague, Nguyen Duc Thuan, and another man have also been detained. She said he was due to fly out on September 19 and that she was going to meet him at the airport.
"On the news from Vietnamese authorities, they said they tried to break in and pass the border late at night on Friday the 18th. How can it be possible?
" she said. Ms Dang said neither she nor the Australian embassy in Hanoi was told he was in custody until Vietnamese state media reported it.
"I still don't know if he's OK, because until now we still don't know where he's being held and how his wellbeing is," she said. 'Transnational repression' Viet Tan executive director Duy Hoang believes Mr Tran was abducted by Vietnamese intelligence and brought back under fabricated charges. Duy Hoang says there was no evidence to suggest the men were planning to enter Vietnam.
He said the border crossing Vietnam cited was far from where Mr Tran was on the morning of September 18, and that the itinerary showed no plan to enter Vietnam. Mr Hoang said Vietnam had a track history of targeting its own citizens abroad but that the detention of both Australian and Norwegian nationals was unprecedented. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government was providing consular support to Mr Tran's family.
Mr Kham said that when he was detained in 2019 on similar national security charges, it was weeks before Australian officials were granted consular access.
"It's hopeless. They will keep them until they find out who in Vietnam cooperated with them. If not they will punish them into saying what they want," Mr Kham said. Mr Kham was sentenced to 12 years in prison before high-level negotiations through his lawyer and Australian government figures secured his release. "Be confident, because we didn't do anything wrong,"
Hiep Tran Vietnam Chau Van Kham Human Rights Terrorism Charges
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