Vietnam detains dissident singer after music tour in Europe

HANOI: Vietnamese singer and activist Do Nguyen Mai Khoi, an outspoken campaigner for free speech, was detained in the capital here yesterday after flying home from Europe, her husband said.

Often dubbed a Vietnamese version of “Pussy Riot” or Lady Gaga because of her activism and provocative style, Mai Khoi was among dozens of dissidents on the watch-list of Communistruled Vietnam for her strong words against the system.

“When Mai Khoi landed at Noi Bai airport, at 9.15am this morning, she texted me to say: ‘Love, I just landed’,” Mai Khoi’s Australian husband, Benjamin Swanton, posted on her Facebook page, which has some 46,000 followers.

“At 9.39am, she texted another message: ‘Detained’,” Swanton wrote.

Swanton said he had not been able to contact Mai Khoi since. Calls to authorities at Noi Bai International airport and Mai Khoi’s mobile phone went unanswered.

“We have been evicted from our house three times now.”

At least 129 people are currently detained in Vietnam for criticising or protesting against the government, according to a report by Human Rights Watch published last month.

A crackdown on dissent last year caused scores of activists to flee the country, according to Amnesty International.

Mai Khoi, 34, has courted controversy under a government which, despite overseeing sweeping economic reforms and growing openness to social change, does not tolerate criticism.

In 2016, she was one of a handful of activists who tried and failed to obtain a seat in the Communist party-dominated National Assembly.

She met former US President Barack Obama during his visit in Vietnam in 2015.

The title of her new album Bat Dong, which she had been in Europe to promote, translates to “Disagreement.” Her song Please, sir pleads with the leader of the Communist Party to allow ordinary Vietnamese people to sing, publish, share and travel freely.