Prominent Vietnamese Dissident Kidnapped by Police Against, Sixth Time Since Late March

Dr. Nguyen Quang A, the leading dissident in Vietnam

Dr. Nguyen Quang A, the leading dissident in Vietnam

In addition to barring local political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders from going abroad, Vietnam’s security forces often kidnap them or keep them de facto under house arrest in order to prevent them from meeting with foreign diplomats and officials or attending peaceful gatherings.

By Vu Quoc Ngu, August 5, 2016

On August 5, the security forces in Hanoi kidnapped Nguyen Quang A, the most popular dissident in Vietnam, and kept him around ten hours in a bid to prevent him from meeting with foreign diplomats, the victim said.

The Hungary-trained economist said he had appointments with German political counselor Lax Konrad, Dutch Second Secretary on Political, Press and Cultural Affairs Tim Krap and New Zealand’s Deputy Ambassador Robbie Taylor on Friday as well as a reception of Australian Ambassador Craig Chittick in the evening on the occasion of the visit by Mr. Lachlan Strahan, head of Multilateral Policy under the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who represented the country at the Vietnam-Human Rights Dialogue in Hanoi on August 4.

In the morning of the day, when Dr. A left his private residence in Hanoi, he was kidnapped by six security officers who took him to a car and headed to his home town  of Que Vo in Bac Ninh province, about 40 km from the capital city. The kidnappers confiscated his cell phone so he couldn’t connect with the foreign guests.

The kidnappers kept him in Que Vo district police station until noon and two officers from the Ministry of Public Security took him to lunch and then to a tour in Ba Vua (Three Kings) temple in the neighbor district of Gia Binh.

Dr. A was released in his home town at 6.30 PM of the day.

This has been the 6th police detention aimed at Dr. A since late March. On May 24, he was also kidnapped by the security forces shortly before the scheduled meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and local activists in which he was invited to attend.

Dr. A is the leading activist in Vietnam. He has a number of articles criticizing policies of the ruling communist party and its government on socio-economic development.

In addition to barring local political dissidents, social activists and human rights defenders from going abroad, Vietnam’s security forces often kidnap them or keep them de facto under house arrest in order to prevent them from meeting with foreign diplomats and officials or attending peaceful gatherings.

Many activists were blocked from attending the meeting between President Obama and representatives of local civil society during his first and final visit to the communist nation in May.

Meanwhile, a number of activists, including former prisoner of conscience Pham Hong Son, Vice President Nguyen Tuong Thuy of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN) and Chief Executive Officer Vu Quoc Ngu of Defend the Defenders attended the reception in Hanoi on August 5 given by Australian Ambassador Chittick.