Vietnam sentences dissident blogger amid abduction claims

A Hanoi court sentenced Vietnamese blogger Duong Van Thai to 12 years in prison for “anti-state propaganda” in a case that has drawn international condemnation and raised allegations of cross-border abduction. Thai, 42, was convicted under Article 117 of Vietnam’s penal code, which criminalizes activities deemed to oppose the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

According to a Radio Free Asia report, Thai’s verdict was read before a limited audience at the Hanoi People’s Court, where he was represented by two attorneys, Le Dinh Viet and Le Van Luan. The charges were based on social media posts and YouTube videos criticizing the Vietnamese government and Communist Party leaders.

Thai’s arrest has prompted controversy on the international stage, as human rights advocates argue that he was abducted from Thailand, where he had fled in 2018 and was granted refugee status by the United Nations. Phil Robertson, director of Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates, condemned the Vietnamese government, stating, “there was ample evidence that the Vietnamese government had ‘abducted Duong Van Thai off the streets in Thailand in broad daylight.’” He further criticized Vietnam’s actions, saying they reveal the government’s “true face as a rogue authoritarian regime prepared to violate all international norms in order to crack down on its critics abroad.”

Vietnam’s state media claims Thai illegally re-entered the country via Laos, but human rights organizations maintain that Thai would not have returned voluntarily, given the severe charges he faced. His detention mirrors previous incidents where Vietnamese dissidents were allegedly kidnapped by Vietnamese intelligence agents while seeking asylum in other countries. Notably, blogger Truong Duy Nhat was abducted from Bangkok in 2019, and former state official Trinh Xuan Thanh was taken from Berlin in 2017, both cases straining diplomatic relations.

Human Rights Watch has called for the annulment of Thai’s “politically motivated verdict,” calling his trial and alleged abduction “the latest example of the Vietnamese government’s thuggish disregard for international law and the rights of its citizens.”

Thai’s controversial detention occurred during a period of strengthening U.S.-Vietnam relations, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken describing the partnership as “one of the most dynamic” in recent years. In September, the two countries formalized this relationship by establishing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, placing the U.S. in Vietnam’s top diplomatic tier.