Vietnam Dissident Singer Mai Khoi Detained in Hanoi for 8 Hours After European Tour

Dissident singer Mai Khoi traveled home after 8-hour detention in Noi Bai International Airport on March 27, 2018 (Source: Facebook Do Nguyen Mai Khoi)

Defend the Defenders, March 28, 2018

On March 27, Vietnam’s authorities detained dissident singer Do Nguyen Mai Khoi for eight hours when she returned the home country from Europe where she made an entertiment tour.

The singer, who was considered by international media as a Vietnamese version of the Russian “Pussy Riot,” was held by security officers at the Noi Bai border gate in early morning of Tuesday.

She was placed in a close room in the Noi Bai International Airport where security officers questioned her about her tour and activities in Europe. They also confiscated many discks of her newly-launched album tittled Dissent.

Once considered Lagy Gala in Vietnam, Do Nguyen Mai Khoi has used her music to fight for the right to freedom of creation and expression.

She ran for a seat in Vietnam’s highest legislative body National Assembly in the country’s General Election in 2016, however, the singer was eliminated early by the Vietnam Father Front, a mass organization working under umbrella of the Communist Party of Vietnam which has ruled the country for decades.

Due to her activism, she and her Australian husband have been evicted from their apartments for three times while her performances in private areas were raid by security forces. She has been included in a watch list of Vietnam’s security forces although she is permitted to go abroad.

Last month, she performed some products at a ceremony of the Prague-based People in Need, in which the a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded on the ideals of humanism, freedom, equality and solidarity awarded prominent Vietnamese dissident writer Pham Doan Trang with its Homo Homini Prize for 2017 for her contribution to human rights and democracy.

In November last year, when US President Donald Trump visited Hanoi, Do Nguyen Mai Khoi held a protest against him by holding up a poster which said “Piss on you Trump” as she blamed him for ignoring human rights issues during his trip to the Southeast Asian nation. Her move was not welcomed by many local activists, however.

One year earlier, she was among few social activists permitted to meet with then US President Barack Obama when he made his maiden and last visit to the communist nation.

During her European tour, Do Nguyen Mai Khoi promoted her new album “Bat Dong” or “Disagreement.” Her song “Please, sir” pleads with the leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam to allow local people to sing, publish, share and travel freely.

Over a hundred of Vietnamese activists have been banned from travel abroad while dozens of foreigners with Vietnamese origin have not been permitted to visit the country. Many others have been detained briefly when returning to the home country after visiting foreign countries.