Rights group accuses Vietnam of abducting Australian and Norwegian activists

According to a Vietnamese state media report published on Monday, Tran and Nguyen were detained with a third man at the border in Tay Ninh province on 18 September.The trio "confessed to being members of the terrorist organisation 'Viet Tan,' [and] carrying forged documents to illegally enter Vietnam in order to carry out terrorist and sabotage activities," the report said.They were charged on Monday with membership of a terrorist organisation while an investigation continued "to clarify the criminal acts of the suspects in order to handle them according to the law", it said."A state orchestrating the abduction of individuals abroad and forcibly taking them to its territory is a serious act of transnational repression," said Viet Tan. "It violates Cambodia's sovereignty and the fundamental principles of international law."The Viet Tan statement did not mention the third man, who was named by authorities as Thai Cong Truong Son.Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said consular support was being provided to Tran's family. "That's what Australian governments do for our citizens. And we'll continue to engage directly with the family.""Vietnam authorities' confirmation that they detained [these] activists... demonstrates yet again that Hanoi is arguably the most vicious and pernicious practitioner of transnational repression today in Southeast Asia," Phil Robertson, Director of Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates said in a statement.