Vietnamese radio blogger Truong Duy Nhat missing in Thailand, raising concerns he has been abducted by authorities
- Reporters Without Borders called on Thailand to investigate, saying the case sent an ‘absolutely terrifying’ message
- Truong Duy Nhat served two years in prison starting in 2014 after blog posts critical of Vietnam’s communist leadership
A Vietnamese blogger for Radio Free Asia has vanished after fleeing to Thailand, the news organisation said Tuesday, as rights activists voiced fear that he had been abducted.
Truong Duy Nhat – a weekly blogger for the Vietnamese service of Radio Free Asia, which aims to provide news to countries that lack press freedom – last made contact with editors on January 26, a day after he applied for refugee status with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok, the US-funded network said.
“We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of Truong Duy Nhat,” Radio Free Asia president Libby Liu said.
“We hope to hear from him as soon as possible about his whereabouts and to be assured that he’s not in any danger,” said Liu, whose organisation has alerted the US State Department and lawmakers.
Bui Thanh Hieu, a Vietnamese blogger who lives in Germany, alleged in a Facebook post that the Hanoi government felt threatened enough to abduct Nhat.
