Vietnam arrests pro-democracy activist for ‘anti-state’ activity

Police in Vietnam have arrested a pro-democracy activist for alleged anti-state activity in the latest incident of crackdown on political dissent in the communist nation.

Tran Khac Duc, 29, was arrested by Ho Chi Minh Police for "creating, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items" in an alleged effort to oppose the Vietnamese government.

Police said he was part of an "exiled reactionary organisation" and had been warned several times.

Mr Duc was arrested in September this year but the authorities announced of his arrest through a state-run newspaper over this weekend.

He was reportedly affiliated with the Assembly for Democracy and Pluralism organisation (ADP), which aims to establish a "multi-party democratic system" in the one-party nation.

The Vietnamese government has escalated its clampdown on dissent by arresting activists, journalists, lawyers and critics with large followings on social media.

According to reports, the government adopted a more hardline approach in throttling dissent after Nguyen Phu Trong was re-elected as the Communist Party chief.

The authorities said despite warnings, Mr Duc continued to "contact and receive instructions from the leaders of the organisations" and allegedly carried out activities such as "managing" the group's website and drafting and sharing articles "with content insulting great people".

It added that Mr Duc sought, connected and allegedly developed domestic forces for the pro-democracy organisation. "This is a very dangerous act, directly violating national security and the political security situation in Ho Chi Minh City," the state media report stated.

The ADP was founded in 1982 and led by Nguyen Gia Kieng, a former official of the US-allied South Vietnamese government and now exiled in France.

Nguyen Gia Kieng told Radio Free Asia on Saturday that ADP members had been repeatedly harassed and beaten up by police but the arrest was "unusual".

In June, Vietnamese authorities charged journalist and historian Truong Huy San with violating a national security law because of his post on Facebook.

Reporters Without Borders ranked Vietnam 174th out of 180 countries and territories in their 2024 World Press Freedom.