Hanoi - Three ethnic Vietnamese political activists, all foreign citizens, were expelled from Vietnam over the weekend after they tried to visit a Vietnamese-American activist who has been imprisoned since November, local press reported Tuesday. The Vietnamese newspaper Saigon Giai Phong said the three had been arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on suspicion of "researching targets for terrorism."
The three activists, Nguyen Thi Xuan Trang of Switzerland, Nguyen Tuan Anh of Australia, and Mai Huu Bao of the United States, belong to the Viet Tan Party, a pro-democracy group based abroad which Vietnam considers a terrorist organization.
A statement from the Viet Tan Party, dated Saturday, confirmed that the three activists had traveled to Vietnam to visit Nguyen Quoc Quan, a Vietnamese-American member of the party, who has been jailed in Ho Chi Minh City since November for political activism and for allegedly traveling on a false Cambodian passport. Three Vietnamese citizens belonging to Viet Tan are also in prison with Quan.
A Viet Tan spokesperson announced Friday that the three foreign activists had entered the detention centre where Quan is being held, carrying gifts of food and medicine, and had not emerged. On Saturday, authorities escorted the three activists to the airport and put them on flights out of the country.
Saigon Giai Phong wrote that the activists had been seen repeatedly "passing by the office" of the Ministry of Public Security in Ho Chi Minh City and taking photos, which it said was illegal. It said they were arrested when they approached the gate of the office, "each holding a plastic bag." The article did not specify what was in the bags.
Saigon Giai Phong said the Viet Tan members had "admitted their illegal activities."
The Viet Tan Party's press release said the three members had been on a "humanitarian visit" and that they had done nothing illegal.
Nguyen Quoc Quan and the three Vietnamese members of Viet Tan detained with him were among six activists arrested on November 17 in Ho Chi Minh City while holding a meeting. A French citizen and another American citizen were released in December.
The Viet Tan Party says it is a peaceful organization dedicated to bringing multiparty democracy to Vietnam. The Vietnamese government says it is terrorist group descended from exile paramilitaries who allegedly carried out armed attacks in Vietnam in the early 1980s.
