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Vietnamese artist Le Quoc Anh, who is wanted by police on charges of “propaganda against the state,” said the police beat him for several days while he was in custody, before going on the run.
He also said the police repeatedly harassed his parents, who live in Tien Giang province in southern Vietnam, in an attempt to force him to turn himself in.
Anh, 33, is a graphic artist at a printing company in My Tho city. He was detained by police for two weeks in March 2023. He was released on bail after the intervention of his lawyer, but went on the run in August 2023 and has been a wanted man ever since.
“I am extremely indignant that the … police detained and beat me for many days in addition to harassing my family even though I did not do anything against the State,” he told Radio Free Asia on Thursday. “Their illegal actions against me and my family show that Vietnam has no freedom of expression or freedom of creativity in the arts.”
During his detention, from March 8 to March 23, 2023, Anh said investigators accused him of being a member of the U.S-based dissident group Viet Tan, and receiving money from it to carry out acts of terrorism in Vietnam. The government has labelled Viet Tan a terrorist organization, which the group denies.
Anh said that since he left home, police have repeatedly questioned his parents about his whereabouts. Most recently, on Dec. 18 and 19, 2024, police forced his father to go to their station, confiscated his phone, questioned him about his son and accused him of colluding with many other people to spread malicious information.
Police also searched their home and seized phones and computers. They threatened to arrest Anh’s father for refusing to tell them where his son was and installed cameras outside the home to monitor him.
“The fact that my family has been harassed repeatedly for a long time is unacceptable, it shows the tyranny of the ruling apparatus, working arbitrarily and without order,” Anh said. “They use all means to achieve what they want during the investigation process such as kidnapping, threatening, violating privacy, robbing property ... seriously affecting the lives and spirits of me and my parents.”
RFA called the Investigation Security Department of the provincial police for comment on Anh’s accusations. The person who answered the call asked the reporter to go to the department’s headquarters to get a response from senior officers.
Anh told RFA that he himself is not politically active, only sharing articles from RFA, Voice of America and the BBC about Vietnam. He is also a member of several internet fan clubs and shares patriotic songs by overseas Vietnamese singers.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.