00:01This is pretty fresh, but what we're seeing right now is a social media post from Vietnamese
00:06officials, its Ministry of Public Security, where they confirmed that they've arrested
00:10three people, including that Australian man, that's 51-year-old Melbourne resident,
00:15Chun Hiep.
00:15He's an Australian-Vietnamese democracy activist.
00:18Now he, along with a Norwegian man, are members of Viet Thanh, that's a pro-democracy organisation
00:26which Vietnam has actually listed as a terrorist organisation.
00:30Now the Ministry of Public Security in Vietnam claims that these three men were arrested as
00:35they were illegally entering Vietnam from the Cambodian border.
00:39They're investigating what they say, they're alleging that they were carrying forged documents
00:44to illegally enter Vietnam in order to carry out what they've described as terrorist and
00:49sabotage activities, and they've initiated a criminal case against these men.
00:53Now, we had already heard prior that Viet Thanh had issued basically an alert saying that
00:59this Australian man, as well as this Norwegian man, who were members of the organisation,
01:03had gone missing, that they hadn't been seen or heard from since they were in Cambodia from
01:08about the 18th of September.
01:10In a statement, Viet Thanh claims that these Vietnamese officials have abducted these two
01:15men from Cambodia and says that these charges are fabricated.
01:19They've also called on the Australian and the Norwegian governments to urgently request
01:24direct access to the two to confirm their safety and whereabouts.
01:28We have heard, as you've just mentioned, that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
01:32says that it's making those urgent enquiries with Vietnamese officials to confirm the whereabouts
01:37of Chen Hiệp and to confirm those reports that he has been detained and arrested.
01:42So this is quite fresh, Joe, and I'm sure there's more to come once we hear back from Australian
01:46officials after they make those enquiries.
