BANGKOK/HANOI (AFP): A Thai appeal court ruled Wednesday to allow the extradition of a prominent Vietnamese activist who was granted refugee status by the UN and faces a decade in prison in Vietnam.
Judges in Bangkok ruled that Y Quynh Bdap, who has lived in exile in Thailand since 2018, could be sent back to his home country, where a court sentenced him in absentia in January 2024 for terrorism offences.
Bdap was convicted for remotely orchestrating 2023 attacks in which gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on two police posts in Vietnam's Central Highlands, killing nine people in a rare act of violence against the communist authorities. He has denied the allegations.
The appeal court upheld a lower court's decision, a Thai judge said on Wednesday.
"The court found insufficient evidence to support that he would be in danger of torture or forced disappearance, and his appeal is not reasonable," the judge read in court.
However, UN-affiliated experts warned last year that Bdap would be at risk of "torture or other ill-treatment or punishment" if sent back to Vietnam.
Vietnamese police have said Bdap is the founder of Montagnards Stand for Justice and accused him of directing people there to carry out the 2023 attacks.
The group advocates for freedom of religion for Vietnam's hill tribes and ethnic minority groups, which have been branded "terrorists" by the authorities.
Montagnards -- the collective name for various tribes in the Central Highlands -- sided with the US-backed south during Vietnam's decades-long war.
Some have called for more autonomy, while others abroad advocate independence for the region.
Bdap was granted refugee status by the United Nations but he has been detained in a Bangkok prison since December when he was jailed for staying in the country without proper travel documents.
His lawyer Nadthasiri Bergman told AFP that he could be extradited to Vietnam as soon as Thursday.
"This means he could face discrimination and ill treatment based on his religious practice when back to Vietnam," she said.
Thailand has no extradition agreement with Vietnam and the court decision needs to be approved by the government. - AFP
