December 5, 2025
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security has publicly issued arrest warrants for Le Trung Khoa (Berlin) and Nguyen Van Dai (Hesse), both residing in Germany, since Friday. The police accuse them of „producing, possessing, disseminating or transferring information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” for their journalistic activities.
The Vietnamese authorities know that both men live in Germany and that Le Trung Khoa is a German citizen. However, they still published their last known addresses in Vietnam and declared them to be Vietnamese citizens. Khoa was unable to renounce his Vietnamese citizenship when he became a German citizen in 2024 because the Vietnamese Embassy in Berlin refused all consular services to him. Therefore, he holds dual citizenship.
By issuing this arrest warrant, Vietnam’s police are violating German law. They wrote: „Anyone who identifies the whereabouts of the accused Nguyen Van Dai or Le Trung Khoa is authorized to immediately arrest them and bring them to the nearest police station, prosecutor’s office or people’s committee.“ However, Hanoi knows that both men live in Germany. In Germany, only the German police are authorized to arrest people.
With this call, Vietnam’s police are inciting people to disregard this fundamental principle of German law. In principle, this call could also be interpreted as incitement to kidnapping. After all, how else could these two men be handed over to a police station, prosecutor’s office, or people’s committee? Such organizations do even exist in Germany.
The German police and the German Foreign Ministry have been informed of this violation of German law.
Journalist Le Trung Khoa (left) and To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Marina Mai
