2008.04.10
Tra Mi, Radio Free Asia reporter
On Saturday, the Vietnamese government released and expelled three Viet Tan members, among them Mr. Mai Huu Bao from the U.S., Mr. Tan Anh from Australia and Dr. Xuan Trang from Switzerland, after several days of detention and interrogation.
The group was detained on Thursday morning of April 3, 2008, when they arrived at the Ministry of Public Security B34 detention center on Nguyễn Văn Cừ street in Saigon, to request visitation of other jailed Viet Tan members. The other Viet Tan members were imprisoned more than four months ago on “terrorism” charges, for calling for a nonviolent struggle for democracy in Vietnam.
In their interview with Tra Mi upon their return, Trang, Bao and Tan Anh recounted what happened during their humanitarian visit. Bao spoke first.
Bao: At about 9:45 am on Thursday, the third, we went inside [the prison] as planned, to request a meeting with the prisoners there – our friends. At that time several staff members came out and separated the three of us. They then took away our belongings and interrogated us. During the whole time that we were stuck in the search room of the government, we were interrogated during most of the waking hours.
Tra Mi: How did the government officials explain their reason for detaining you, when you just came to request visiting the prisoners?
Tan Anh: At first, they explained that they wanted to verify who we were. Afterwards, they said we came to visit Mr. Quan, a member of a “terrorist” party, so they needed to question us more to determine the national security situation.
Tra Mi: When you identified yourself as members of Viet Tan, how did they react?
Bao: They said, ‘Based on the fact that you are members of Viet Tan, we could arrest you at any time. But right now, we need to question you to understand more about your visit to this prison, whether there are any other motives, such as planned terrorist attacks, bombings, etc.’ They generally tried to find ways to label us as terrorists and bombers.
Tra Mi: How long and where were you detained?
Bao: A total of 74 hours from the time we were separated and questioned. The first twelve hours were held right at the police station on Nguyen Van Cu Street. After that, they took us to our temporary detention location behind Tan Son Nhat Airport.
Tra Mi: During the time you were held, how were you treated?
Xuan Trang: For me personally, I felt that these police officers, they were the ones who wanted to terrorize me. Some people played the role of “good cop,” speaking softly. Others spoke in an aggressive manner, slamming on tables and chairs. They took turns, each one asking the same question over and over until I was worn out. On occasions, they would scream and yell and used derogatory terms in place of proper forms.
Bao: They were very careful, because they knew we would return abroad. If they let something slip, it would be made known to the world.
Tra Mi: So after two days of detention, they expelled you to the U.S., correct?
Bao: Yes. Two days is what was officially stated on paper, but in reality, it was more than three days.
Tra Mi: What reason was given for your expulsion to the U.S. [Australia and Switzerland]?
Tan Anh: The real reason is actually laughable. They said the three of us violated Vietnamese law when we took pictures at locations where photography and videography was forbidden.
Tra Mi: What location is that?
Tan Anh: In front of the detention center on Nguyen Van Cu Street.
Tra Mi: Meaning, before you went inside the jail to visit, you took pictures?
Tan Anh: Yes.
Bao: If you read the expulsion papers, they wrote, ‘[Person] has violated laws forbidding the taking of photographs and videos at the jail. Suspected of terrorist activities,’ and so on. It goes on much longer. In short, we explained to them that these are just souvenir pictures in front of a place where we know our friends are being held.
Tra Mi: This expulsion can be understood as a permanent denial for the three of you to return to Vietnam again, correct?
Bao: Yes, I think that is correct.
Tra Mi: What are your thoughts on the actions and the message of the Vietnamese government vis-à-vis Viet Tan members?
Tan Anh: This incident shows that they are very disconcerted with the many organizations demanding democracy in Vietnam right now, one of them being Viet Tan.
Tra Mi: You said ‘disconcerted,’ can you explain this in more detail?
Tan Anh: In other words, they don’t know how to deal with these incidents. They try hard to quickly put the violation of taking photos on us so they could expel us the sooner the better, in order to avoid a backlash from the world community for unlawfully detaining three people.
Xuan Trang: We knew very well that when we entered and identified ourselves as members of Viet Tan visiting fellow activists, we would encounter difficulties on future visits to Vietnam. But in any case, it was a way for us to express our close bond with those currently arrested. We were not at all afraid to meet with the police.
Bao: With regards to the regime, we wanted to let them know that our actions are for social equality and that we haven’t violated any laws. And these actions will be continued by others to demand social equality.
Tra Mi: Thank you, Bao, Tan Anh and Xuan Trang for your time.
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Transcript: Radio Free Asia Interview
