October 14, 2010
FEARS are held for a Melbourne social worker who has been detained in Vietnam after taking part in a political protest at the weekend.
Ms Hong Vo, 53, was arrested by Communist security police at Ho Chi Minh City airport on Sunday as she was about to board a plane home.
A Foreign Affairs Department spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that an Australian woman had been detained in Vietnam and was being investigated for allegedly breaching anti-terrorism laws.
“Australian consular officers in Vietnam are seeking to visit the woman in detention at the earliest opportunity to provide consular assistance,’’ she said.
Ms Vo, a single mum from Fawkner, works for the City of Yarra and is well known in the Vietnamese community.
She came to Australia in 1982.
Mrs Vo’s son Daniel said that he and his younger brother were very worried about her safety.
“It’s a bit of a shock because I was on the phone to her when she was at the airport and the call ended abruptly,’’ he said.
“We don’t know what condition she’s in or where she’s being held.’’ Mr Vo said that his mother handed out leaflets and t-shirts during a peaceful protest in Hanoi staged by opposition movement Viet Tan last Saturday.
Luke Donellan, MP
State Labor MP Luke Donnellan, who co-ordinates a parliamentary human rights group for Vietnam, said he knew Ms Vo well and would lodge a protest with the Vietnamese Embassy.
“I will tell them how annoyed I am that they have arrested an Australian citizen and incarcerated her. It’s totally inappropriate,’’ he said.
“Especially since we’re talking about people handing out leaflets in relation to democracy, not actually any criminal acts,’’ he said.