Vietnam police have launched a formal criminal investigation into an American man who was among dozens arrested last week during rare protests that erupted across the authoritarian state.
US citizen William Anh Nguyen, 32, was detained in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday last week during a massive rally protesting a government proposal to grant lengthy land leases in new special economic zones.
Many protesters expressed fear the land would be handed to China, and thousands gathered in several cities across the country to demand that the government not lease land to Beijing for “even one day.”
Photo: AFP/Courtesy of Mary Daniel
At least 40 people are still in detention after the rallies, a tally of official figures and state media reports found.
The protests turned violent in several spots, including southern Binh Thuan province, where demonstrators torched police buses and damaged government property.
Ho Chi Minh City police late on Friday said that Nguyen was being investigated for “for acts of disturbing public order” and accused him of inciting protesters and trying to damage public property.
“After seeing people trying to flip a police pickup truck to clear the way for the protesters, William Anh tried to help them flip the vehicles,” a report from Ho Chi Minh City’s official police newspaper said.
The investigation could lead to formal charges and means Nguyen is likely to remain in detention until the probe is closed.
The Texas-born Yale graduate was passing through Vietnam on holiday before going to Singapore, where he was set to receive a masters’ degree next month.
Nguyen’s friends said that he was injured before his arrest, citing footage on social media that showed him with a bloody wound on his head as he was dragged to a vehicle by plainclothes men.
He was visited by US consular officials in jail on Friday and appeared “in decent spirits,” family friend Kevin Webb said.
“He seemed to be in decent health. We don’t know if he’s received medical attention for his head injury,” said Webb, who has been working with Nguyen’s family to lobby lawmakers in Washington for his release.
A US Department of State spokesman said they are concerned by reports that Nguyen was injured and US officials are pushing for continued consular access to him.
Nguyen did not bring a political agenda to the protests and was only there to celebrate the right to free assembly, family friends said.
“He was not at these protests to express any kind of political message,” Mary Daniel said.
Authorities this week distributed leaflets and sent text messages in Ho Chi Minh City warning residents not to join illegal gatherings and there was a heavy police presence in the city yesterday.
The draft law on special economic zones made no mention of granting land to China, but ignited a long-simmering resentment against Vietnam’s powerhouse communist neighbor.
Hanoi and Beijing have a historically checkered relationship since a bloody border war in 1979 and tensions frequently spike over disputed territory in the South China Sea.
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