Freedom of expression groups urge Vietnam to free critical journalist reportedly detained last week

BANGKOK (AP) — Three well-known freedom-of-expression organizations have appealed to the Vietnamese authorities to release veteran journalist and historian Truong Huy San, a well-known government critic who reportedly was detained last week in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.

The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders on Friday issued a call for San’s release, noting he was “reportedly taken away by state security agents just a few days after publishing articles on the country’s current political turmoil.”

Its appeal came a day after the Committee to Protect Journalists and PEN America, both headquartered in New York, expressed similar concern over San’s situation.

“We are concerned Truong Huy San may be targeted for his writings, which have been critical of the Vietnamese government, PEN America said in a post on the social platform X. “We urge the Vietnamese authorities to be transparent about his apprehension. Charges must not be brought against Truong Huy San for his free expression.”″

There has been no official confirmation of San’s detention, which became known on June 1. On Thursday, replying to a news conference question about his situation, Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said that his agency did not have “relevant information” about the arrest.

News of San’s detention initially came from the tight-knit community of Vietnamese online dissidents. San had been due to attend a small public event in Hanoi, but failed to turn up, leading his friends to discover that police had been to his home and taken him away. They spread the news on social networks.

Content on his Facebook page, which had more than 350,000 followers, disappeared on June 2, with no explanation.

Several days before his