By Anthony Le Thanh Tung , VRNs
Saigon – 9:40pm: I entered the entry area at Tan Son Nhat airport after more than 23 hours of traveling (including transit time in Japan) from Washington D.C. to Saigon, Vietnam. The airport at that time had more than 300 passengers including Vietnamese and foreigners waiting in-line for customs and immigration clearance. At the passport control booth, I handed my passport to the agent and after having scanned it, the agent looked at me and picked up the phone to call someone. In less than 1 minute, there were more than 20 policemen in uniforms and plain clothes rushed out and they jumped on me and attacked me, their action is not unlike a pride of lions attacking a prey.
Anthony Le Thanh Tung in front of the White House in Washington D.C. Photo from VRNs.
I wasn’t sure how to respond to protect myself other than holding on to the metal rail separating the waiting lines and shout out in both Vietnamese and English “police beating people, công an đánh người”, “please help, vui lòng giúp tôi”, and “please take a picture of this scene, chụp hình cảnh này giùm tôi”, etc.. At the same time, the police continued to attack me, some of them twisted my arms behind my back, others pushed my head down, and still others picked up my legs and carried me away as if carrying an animal. One of the bigger plain clothes police officers in jean and green T-shirt kicked me twice on the rib cage which caused a severe convulsion on my body. The two violent kicks on my rib cage forced me off the arms of the policemen who were lugging me. I sweat profusely because of the pain, and the handle on my backpack was broken in half. I tried to get up and looked at the plain clothes police officer who kicked me and I told him that I would post pictures of his violent assault on newspapers, and he tried to attack me again but this time Mr. Le Dinh Vinh, the man who I later found out was a chief security officer on duty, stopped him. The policemen threw me into a room deep in a back corner and one by one, each of them shouted threats and expletives at me.
After a while, two policemen without name tags who I later found out were Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen and Mr. Le Tien Hoang, asked me to answer some questions but I refused and asked to work with the people with proper authority and warrant. At that time, Mr. Le Dinh Vinh walked in and said he’s with the airport security department and he’s responsible for this working session while the other two Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen and Mr. Le Tien Hoang belong to the police department and they will work with me on a number of issues related to my trip to the United States to attend the World Press Freedom Day. I was still reeling in pain from the violent kicks, and exhausted from hunger and thirst, however, Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen kept asking me to sit up straight and be attentive to work with them. I told them that I’m still in pain and can’t be attentive. The following is the dialogue between me the the police officers:
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: Mr. Tung, I’m asking you to sit up straight to work with us.
Me: I’m in severe pain, please go ahead and ask me.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: I’m asking you to put your feet down to be polite.
Me: I’m not able to sit up straight.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: How much are you getting paid as a democracy and political activist?
Me: Uhm, funny you asked that.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: You’re really willing to sell out your family and yourself for a few hundred bucks?
Me: Excuse me, please be polite, is that how low you think about me?
At that time, Mr. Le Tien Hoang interrupted.
Mr. Le Tien Hoang: Mr. Tung, I suggest you tell us some basic facts about yourself.
Me: Thank you Mr. Hoang for stopping this line of incoherent and impolite questionings from Mr. Nguyen.
Me: My name is Le Thanh Tung, Dc…, SCMND…
At that time, my phone rang, and not knowing who’s on the other side, but I surmised it’s Father Thoai, so I shouted out to the phone: “Father, they detained me and beat me”, but before I was able to finish my sentence, someone yanked the phone from my hand and turned off the cell phone and removed the battery.
Taking advantage of the situation, Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen called out some expletives about Father Thoai, such as “is that how you ask for freedom of religion?”, “Don’t you see Ngoc Lan as an example?”, “Is that how you fight for freedom and democracy? Don’t you see how VH was jailed and beat up?” <<Cau nay can check lai vi khong biet VH la ai.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: I ask you, do you know VH?
Me: I suggest you speak politely. I don’t know who the person you’re asking me is.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: When you’re in the USA, how much money did Viet Tan give you?
Me: I don’t receive any money from anyone, you seems to see me pretty lowly.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: You’ve been out of work for more than a year, where do you get the money to pay for expenses of the trip?
Me: The expenses of the trip is taken care of by the organizing committee and specifically EFF.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: Did you carry any money with you on the trip?
Me: What do you think? Did you think I just go empty handed?
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: How much did you bring with you? And where did that money come from?
Me: I asked my wife for some money, the exact amount is $700 USD for emergency situations.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: As a man, don’t you feel shameful when you have to ask your wife for money?
Me: According to you, what is considered shameful?
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: It’s shameful if you don’t work and use your wife’s money.
Me: Let me ask, do you give your paycheck to your wife to manage? Or do you just keep the paycheck for yourself so you don’t have to ask your wife? Where does your wife find money to put food on the table and take care of your children’s education?
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: What is your opinion about the Vietnam Reform Party (Viet Tan)? Who from the Vietnam Reform Party have you met in the United States?
Me: I met Mr. Đỗ Hoàng Điềm. chairman of the Vietnam Reform Party, Mr. Hoàng Tứ Duy, Ms. Huỳnh Trang, Ms. Hồng Thuận and a number of others whose names I don’t know. We met and shook hands and exchanged greetings and took some pictures together. I think Vietnam Reform Party is a good organization, their members are courteous and very smart.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: Were you asked to join the Vietnam Reform Party or any other organizations in the United States?
Me: What do you think? Can you guess if any organization asked me to join them?
At this point, Mr. Hoang interrupted.
Mr. Le Tien Hoang: Mr. Tung, please let me know some main points about your personal history, your family, …
Me: Thank you Mr. Hoang for getting me out of this intimidating interrogation from Mr. Nguyen. Since you asked, I’ll give you a few basic facts about me …, my wife …, my children …, my parents …, and my siblings…
At this point there were two cameramen pointing their cameras at me and continuously recorded what I said. I took advantage of the situation and talked to the camera about the people who violently assaulted me at the entry area previously, and their lack of civility with their insults and expletives which Mr. Nguyen constantly threw at me. I also asked them to turn off their cameras because I haven’t given them my permission to record.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: Did you see Mr. Quốc Quân when you’re in the United States?
Me: I’m aware Mr. Lê Quốc Quân is currently in jail.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: You seem to know many things. However, I’m asking you about Mr. Nguyễn Quốc Quân.
Me: I met many Vietnamese expatriates there, but I’m not sure who is Mr. Nguyễn Quốc Quân.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: What did you speak about at the World Press Freedom Day conference?
Me: I spoke about the issues with the Internet and Facebook in Vietnam, its development, its limitations and consequences.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: Other than those you’ve just stated, what else did you speak about?
Me: I was given only one minute to speak so that was only enough time for me to speak about those things.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Nguyen: Which organizations were at the conference and how many attended?
Me: There were more than 100 attendees, of those attendees, I heard the names of these organizations and dignitaries:
– A number of United States congress men and women
– Vietnam Reform Party
– Radio Free Asia
– Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF)
– Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
– U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
– EFF
– Access
– SBTN
– other news organizations and various NGOs
Read the full story by Anthony Le Thanh Tung from VRNs
