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    Vietnam leader’s UK visit overshadowed by ‘interrogation’ of BBC journalist

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    A BBC journalist has been barred from leaving Vietnam and subjected to multiple days of interrogation, the BBC has said as the country’s top leader arrived in the UK for an official visit.The broadcaster alleges that officials stopped its journalist – a Vietnamese citizen who lives and works in Thailand – from leaving the country, seized her passport, and subjected her to interrogation.The British government is being urged by friends of the journalist to pressure Vietnam’s Communist Party general secretary To Lam, who is scheduled to meet prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, to secure her release.Friends hope her case can be raised by the British prime minister during his meeting with the Vietnamese leader.The journalist, who works for the BBC’s Vietnamese Service, had returned to her home country in August to renew her passport. “One of our journalists has been unable to leave Vietnam for several months as the authorities have withheld their ID card and their renewed passport,” the BBC said on Tuesday in a statement.The local police allegedly held her reissued passport and interrogated her for five days over her work. “We are deeply concerned about our journalist’s wellbeing and urge the authorities to allow them to leave immediately, providing them with their renewed passport so they can return to work.”The journalist, who does not want to be named, was “shaken” by the gruelling interrogation and pressured into acknowledging 18 articles that she had published, The Times reported, citing her friends.During Mr Lam’s visit, both nations are expected to raise their ties to a strategic comprehensive partnership, according to British officials. However, Mr Lam’s visit appears to have been eclipsed by yet another glaring example of the clampdown on press freedom in Vietnam. “When you undertake that degree of interrogation, and when you’re singling out specific articles that they’ve forced her to acknowledge, I think they’re preparing for an arrest,” said Phil Robertson, a human rights campaigner in Bangkok.To Lam, the general secretary of the Communist Party, is currently visiting the UK More

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      Tulip Siddiq’s anti-corruption trial formally begins in Bangladesh

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      Tulip Siddiq’s trial formally began in Bangladesh on Wednesday with testimonies of anti-corruption officials against the former British minister.The Labour Party member is facing charges for allegedly using her familial connection to the ousted prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to obtain state-owned land plots in the South Asian country.Ms Siddiq, who is Hasina’s niece, resigned from her post as an anti-corruption minister in Keir Starmer’s government in January following reports that she lived in London properties linked to her aunt and was named in an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh.She said she had been cleared of wrongdoing but that the issue was becoming “a distraction from the work of the government”.Ms Siddiq told The Guardian over the weekend that she was “collateral damage” in the feud between her aunt and Muhammad Yunus – the Nobel laureate appointed as the leader of Bangladesh in the absence of an elected prime minister.“These are wider forces that I’m battling against … There’s no doubt people have done wrong things in Bangladesh, and they should be punished for it. It’s just I’m not one of them.”The trial at the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 began with testimonies by two officials of the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission. A third official is expected to testify later in the day, said Muhammad Tariqul Islam, a public prosecutor.Ms Siddiq is being tried together with her mother, Sheikh Rehana, brother, Radwan Mujib, and sister, Azmina. She has been charged with facilitating their receipt of state land in a township project near the capital, Dhaka. The four were indicted earlier and asked to appear in court, however, the prosecution said they absconded and would be tried in absentia.The Bangladesh court had issued an arrest warrant for Ms Siddiq in April. She was indicted in July.Her lawyers had previously called the charges baseless and politically motivated.Separately, the anti-corruption investigation has also alleged that Siddiq’s family was involved in brokering a 2013 deal with Russia for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh in which large sums of money were said to have been embezzled.Siddiq represents the north London district of Hampstead and Highgate in parliament, served in the Labour Party government as economic secretary to the Treasury – the minister responsible for tackling financial corruption.Ms Hasina was ousted after a 15-year rule in a student-led mass uprising in August last year. She fled to India and has been in exile ever since. Hundreds of protesters were killed during the uprising and Ms Hasina now faces charges, including crimes against humanity. More

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      Modi lands in Mauritius to back sovereignty claim over Chagos and boost maritime security

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      Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreNarendra Modi was set to support Mauritius in its dispute with Britain over the Chagos archipelago as India’s prime minister arrived in the Indian Ocean nation to a grand welcome on Tuesday. Mr Modi was received in the strategically located maritime neighbour by prime minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam and was scheduled to meet president Dharam Gokhool.The Indian leader was expected to attend National Day celebrations in the capital Port Louis on 12 March as the chief guest. A contingent of the Indian military and a naval ship were set to participate in the event as well.India’s foreign ministry said the prime minister would discuss the Chagos dispute and reaffirm Delhi’s longstanding support for Mauritius’ sovereignty over the islands.“We have continued to support Mauritius and will continue to do so,” foreign secretary Vikram Misri told reporters in New Delhi. “I would imagine that during the visit there will be an opportunity perhaps for the Mauritius side to update us on any issues that might still be outstanding if there are any issues by that time.”The Chagos archipelago, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, is a group of seven atolls comprising over 60 islands. One of the atolls, Diego Garcia, is operated by the US as a forward operating base for its forces in the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific, making it a key strategic hub.Mauritius gained independence in 1968, but the UK kept control of the Chagos islands and forcibly displaced an estimated 2,000 native people to establish the Diego Garcia base, which was leased to the US.India sees Mauritius as a key ally in countering China’s ever-growing influence in the Indian Ocean and enhancing regional security.Narendra Modi receives a guard of honour in Mauritius More

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      David Lammy urged to save imprisoned activist Jimmy Lai as son says father unwell

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      Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreThe son of British media mogul Jimmy Lai has urged the UK foreign secretary to help save his unwell father amid fears that he could die in prison.Sebastien Lai said David Lammy must challenge Beijing on the imprisonment of his 76-year-old father and is “disappointed” to have not heard from the foreign secretary since Labour took power.Mr Lammy is set to visit China next week to seek “less confrontational” ties with Beijing in a major reset of Britain’s relations with the country, according to reports.“My father will die in jail if David Lammy does not raise his case. This is an issue about saving his life,” Sebastien told The Independent.Mr Lai was seen shivering in court showing “significant loss of weight and increasing frailty” in September, according to his international legal team.In August, The Independent revealed a British judge had helped keep pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai in jail More

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      Shame of British judge keeping free speech hero Jimmy Lai in jail

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      Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe son of a UK citizen imprisoned by China warned that time is running out to save his father as a British judge in Hong Kong was condemned for helping to keep him in jail.Sebastien Lai, son of pro-democracy newspaper tycoon Jimmy Lai, said his 76-year-old father was approaching a fourth year in solitary confinement.Mr Lai has been locked up since 2020 and faces a life sentence under Beijing’s National Security Law, while also serving time for charges overseen by British judges.British judge David Neuberger voted on Monday to uphold Mr Lai’s conviction for taking part in anti-Beijing protests alongside 1.7 million others in 2019. Mr Lai was sentenced to 14 months in prison.But former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten said it was “obvious” the case Lord Neuberger upheld was an “act of vengeance” by the city-state’s government.Lai has been locked up since 2020 and faces a life sentence under Beijing’s National Security Law More

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      UK presses for consular access to Jimmy Lai as Hong Kong trial enters second day

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      For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsThe British government has called on Hong Kong to provide consular access to jailed media mogul Jimmy Lai as his landmark national security trial entered its second day on Tuesday.The 76-year-old British citizen and founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily is facing charges of colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to release seditious publications.He was arrested in August 2020 during the Hong Kong administration’s crackdown on activists and China critics following the 2019 democracy movement.The trial of Lai – the most high profile of the nearly 300 arrested under the Beijing-imposed draconian national security law – has become a diplomatic focal point between China and the West, including the UK, over freedom of press and judicial independence.The UK and the US have called on China for the immediate release of Lai, saying that the trial is politically motivated. Lai was already serving five years and nine months for a fraud conviction over a lease dispute for his newspaper.”We’ll continue to press for consular access to Mr Lai,” Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the British minister of state for the Indo-Pacific, said in parliament on Monday.She added that the UK was unable to provide consular access “because we are not allowed to visit him in prison”.Conservative former minister Tim Loughton, speaking during an urgent question, told the Commons: “This pantomime trial of Jimmy Lai is just the tip of a huge iceberg of the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) industrial abuse of human rights and indifference to international rule of law.”Sir Julian Lewis, who chairs the Intelligence and Security Committee of parliament, said: “How many times must a totalitarian communist state behave like a totalitarian communist state before the government will recognise it as a totalitarian communist state?”Foreign secretray David Cameron previously said Lai was targeted “in a clear attempt to stop the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and association”.The media tycoon on Tuesday walked into the West Kowloon Law Court smiling and waving to his supporters amid heavy police presence. He also blew a kiss to the public gallery as a supporter chanted: “Hang in there!”Diplomats from at least 10 consulates, including those from the UK, the US, EU, Canada, and Australia, were in attendance during the trial along with Lai’s wife, son, and daughter.The city-appointed judges – Esther Toh, Susana D’Almada Remedios and Alex Lee – heard Lai’s lawyers’ plea to dismiss the sedition charges due to the “time bar”.Robert Pang, the lead counsel for Lai, argued on Tuesday that the prosecutors had laid the charge too late for the alleged conspiracy that ran between April 2019 and June 2021.Mr Pang on Monday said Apple Daily published its final edition on 24 June 2021 and the charge would have expired on 24 December. But the defendant was brought before the court for the first time on 28 December, at least four days after the “time bar” had expired.But prosecutor Anthony Chau said the time limit should be set based on when the alleged conspiracy – involving at least 160 articles – actually ended.Mr Chau said it would be absurd if prosecutors were required to charge a suspect every time an alleged offence came to their knowledge, making the case “fragmented” and “impracticable”.The judges said they would make a decision on Friday. The trial is expected to last about 80 days without a jury.The US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller reiterated calls for Lai’s release. “We have deep concerns about the deterioration in protection for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong and that includes the rule of law,” he said.Beijing has dismissed the criticism from Western governments, saying that Washington and London made irresponsible remarks and that go against international law and the basic norms of international relations. More

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      Tobias Ellwood’s call to reopen talks with Taliban sparks backlash: ‘Were Afghan women spoken to?’

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      For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Senior Tories have criticised the chair of the defence select committee for posting “an utterly bizarre video” in which he seemed to praise the Taliban for “vastly improving” […] More

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      Digital democracy in Indonesia: an Asian Giant in Constant Transformation

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