Australian Activist Freed From Vietnam Prison

Facts

• Chau Van Kham, an Australian pro-democracy activist who has been jailed in Vietnam for more than four years, has been released and returned home to Sydney.¹
• Kham, a Vietnamese-born Australian citizen was arrested in Vietnam in January 2019 after being accused of “financing terrorism” through his membership in the pro-democracy group Viet Tan.²
• Kham’s lawyers — alongside human rights advocates — have asserted that the charges were politically motivated. Despite the claims, the 74-year-old was sentenced to 12 years in prison after a trial that lasted a single day.¹
• Acting Australian Prime Minister Richard Marles said that Kham was released on humanitarian grounds and “in the spirit of friendship,” adding that the release was the result of "careful advocacy...undertaken by the Australian government with the Vietnamese government, over a number of months..."³
• In 2016, the Vietnamese government declared the California-based political group Viet Tan, or Vietnam Reform Party, a terrorist organization accused of recruiting and training armed operatives. At the time, the Vietnamese government warned those found to be involved with the group could be deemed co-conspirators.³
• Viet Tan denies these claims, saying instead that it “advocates for social justice and democratic change through peaceful means” and operates lawfully in the countries where it is active.⁴

Sources: ¹The Sydney Morning Herald, ²Guardian, ³CNN, and ⁴Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The Sydney Morning Herald. Vietnam currently has more than 150 political prisoners jailed for peaceful acts of free expression. The country's one-party government has no tolerance for anyone who expresses opinions critical of the government. Kham's case was a blatant human rights abuse, and the Australian government needs to continue to call on Vietnamese authorities to release all political prisoners to align the Southeast Asian nation with the rules-based order.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Vietnam Plus. Viet Tan has, since the 1980s, recruited and trained members to deploy terrorist schemes in Vietnam. Now based outside of national borders, the group continues to incite disorder and disturbance in the state. The international community must apply a better context to acknowledge the threat this organization poses to Vietnam's national security.