The Australian democracy activist Chau Van Kham has been released from a Vietnamese jail and returned to his home in Sydney.
“Chau Van Kham has returned to Australia a free man,” his family said. “We share the happy news that Chau Van Kham is well and has returned to his family today.”
The Vietnamese-born Australian citizen was arrested in Vietnam in January 2019 and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment on “financing terrorism” charges over his membership of the pro-democracy group Viet Tan.
Human rights advocates, lawyers and Chau’s family said the charges against him were baseless and politically motivated, and his single-day multiple-defendant trial was grossly unfair.
He had little consular access and limited communication, and the 74-year-old’s health deteriorated precipitously in prison: a 12-year term was “effectively a death sentence” his family said.
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, thanked the Vietnamese government for its decision to release Chau.
“They’ve done this on the basis of humanitarian grounds and in the spirit of friendship which exists between Australia and Vietnam,” Marles said.
“This is a result of careful advocacy which has been undertaken by the Australian government with the Vietnamese government over a number of months now.”
More to come
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