Australian activist ‘abducted’ in Cambodia by Vietnamese government, rights group claims
Democracy campaigner Tran Hiep was due to meet his wife in Thailand after travelling to Phnom Penh, but did not board his flight and has not been heard from since.
Two Vietnamese men have been sentenced to prison for organizing the illegal exit of a Malaysian man to Cambodia, where he was allegedly recruited for online scam operations. The court in Dong Thap Province sentenced 34-year-old Ngo Hoang Thanh to nine years in prison and 32-year-old Nguyen Hong Hai to eight years for their role in the scheme.
According to the indictment, Thanh and Hai had been paid between US$1,000 and US$2,000 for each successful illegal exit, sharing a portion of the payment with each other. The Malaysian man, identified only as ALKC, had entered Vietnam through Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on November 24, 2025. Thanh and Hai picked him up in a car and took him towards An Giang to arrange his illegal departure to Cambodia.
During the journey, ALKC reportedly became increasingly distressed and jumped out of the car, sustaining fatal injuries. Vietnamese authorities determined that ALKC had been targeted by a network that facilitated the illegal movement of foreign nationals into Cambodia for employment in online scam operations.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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