A flag of Vietnam is seen as a soldier watches from a top of a building neighboring Government Guesthouse and a hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 24, 2019. Human rights groups urged Thailand on Thursday, June 13, 2024, not to extradite a Vietnamese activist detained in Bangkok, saying that he could be at risk if handed back to Vietnam. - AP
HANOI/BANGKOK (AFP): A Thai court approved on Monday the extradition of a leading hill tribe activist to Vietnam, where he faces 10 years in jail over rare deadly attacks on police headquarters.
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 convicted him in his absence in January of terrorism offences.
Bdap was accused of remotely orchestrating attacks in June 2023 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.
A judge at the Bangkok court said the Vietnamese charges were similar to what constitutes "terrorism" in Thailand, so Bdap could be extradited.
His lawyer Nadthasiri Bergman said they would "100 percent" appeal against the decision.
"It is disappointing, it is unacceptable. Our defence arguments have not been considered," she said.
"I just hope that the government will sign an executive order not to extradite him."
The decision still needs to be approved by the government because Thailand has no extradition agreement with Vietnam.
Bdap has been granted refugee status by the United Nations, which has urged Thailand to refuse the extradition request.
UN-affiliated experts warned in July that Bdap would be at risk of "torture or other ill-treatment or punishment" if sent back to Vietnam.
Police blamed the attacks on Montagnards Stand for Justice (MSFJ), a group pushing for freedom of religion for Vietnam's hill tribes and ethnic minority groups that has been branded as "terrorist" by the authorities.
Vietnamese police say Bdap is the founder of MSFJ and accuse him of directing people there to carry out the attacks.
Vietnam has issued international arrest warrants for Bdap and other activists. It accuses them of engaging in "barbaric and inhumane acts" and inciting anti-government activities from abroad.
The country's government sentenced almost 100 people in January in relation to the 2023 attacks in Dak Lak province, accusing them of seeking to "overthrow the state".
All were from ethnic minority groups indigenous to Vietnam's Central Highlands.
Montagnards -- the collective name for various tribes in the area -- sided with the US-backed south during Vietnam's decades-long war. Some are also calling for more autonomy, while others abroad advocate independence for the region. - AFP
