Two Australians facing the death penalty in Vietnam have been granted clemency after Anthony Albanese’s visit to the country, with the prime minister crediting the government’s strengthening relationship with Asian nations for the “substantial breakthrough”.
“Australia has a strong position of opposition to the death penalty and we make representations on behalf of Australian citizens and we are very pleased that Vietnam has agreed to the request and we thank them for it,” Albanese told the ABC’s 7.30 program on Monday night.
Albanese returned on Monday afternoon from a trip to south-east Asia, which included an address to the Shangri-La security dialogue in Singapore and a bilateral visit to Vietnam.
Albanese praised Vietnam’s economic growth as “remarkable” and touted Australia’s eagerness for increased links in trade, tourism, investment, energy and education. During the trip, he announced $105m to assist Vietnam ‘s uptake of clean energy.
On 7.30, Albanese said the visit had also yielded clemency for two Australians facing the death penalty. The prime minister would not reveal details of the cases, saying their families had requested privacy, but said Australians officials had been working toward that outcome for some time.
“There was a substantial breakthrough with the granting of clemency just yesterday for two Australians who had been sentenced to capital punishment,” Albanese said.
“I made representations to the [Vietnamese] prime minister yesterday morning and by yesterday afternoon the president had signed the clemency orders. Australia very much welcomes this.”
The trade minister, Don Farrell, has previously said he raised the two cases during a visit to Vietnam in April.
“I raised with the Vietnamese prime minister the case of a couple of Australians on death row there,” he told Guardian Australia last month.
“Not only do I want to raise it because I feel terribly for people who are in this situation, but I should raise it on behalf of the Australian government.”
Albanese said the families had been informed, and were “very relieved”.
“They passed on their thanks to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials, who have been working on in for some time,” he said.
“They have asked that their privacy be respected, which is why I am not mentioning the names this evening.”
Albanese said the government had also made representations on behalf of Sydney man Chau Van Kham, who was sentenced to 12 years jail in 2019 on terrorism charges after a trial described by human rights groups as a “travesty of justice”.
“That’s a different case there, where after an international prisoner transfer, and we’re hopeful in that case but we will continue to work on those issues but we make representations, we do it diplomatically and we always hope for positive outcomes, in the interests of Australian citizens,” Albanese said.
Dfat was approached for comment.
Asked by host Sarah Ferguson what had been the decisive breakthrough in the cases, Albanese responded: “I think Australia is building a strong relationship with our Asean partners, and in particular with Vietnam, and the visit provided an impetus for this outcome.”
