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 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. It said they were arrested on Sept. 18 trying to cross illegally from Cambodia into Vietnam.

The ministry said the men had admitted to being members of Viet Tan, a U.S.-based pro-democracy group that Vietnam’s Communist government designates as a terrorist organization.

The three were “illegally entering Vietnam to conduct terrorist and sabotage activities,“ the ministry said.

They are also accused of forging seals and documents, according to the ministry. It said Thuan, born in 1974, was carrying a Norwegian passport and Huy, born in 1975, was carrying an Australian passport. It did not provide further information about Son’s nationality but said he was 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 they disappeared in Cambodia on the morning of Sept. 18 while traveling to Kaoh Andaet, an area in the south of the country adjacent to the Vietnamese border.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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 queries to the government in Oslo.

A Cambodian government spokesperson said he had no information about the arrests.

“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.

Viet Tan called on the governments of Norway and Australia, as well as international human rights organizations, to press Hanoi for the men’s immediate and unconditional release.

Vietnamese authorities said the investigation was continuing and that they would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.