‘We will not sweep this under the carpet’: Germany expels second Vietnamese diplomat over kidnapping of fugitive in Berlin
The target was Trinh Xuan Thanh, the former head of PetroVietnam Construction Corporation, who was in seeking asylum in the European country
Germany said on Friday it had expelled a second Vietnamese diplomat over what it called the brazen kidnapping by Hanoi agents of a fugitive state company official in Berlin.
The “totally unacceptable” abduction constitutes a “gross violation of international law”, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters.
The diplomat, who was not named, has four weeks to leave Germany with his family.
“He is not part of the top tier of the embassy,” said foreign ministry spokesman Rainer Breul.
But, he said the German government “have indications that he was involved in this incident” along with “several” other employees of the diplomatic mission in Berlin.
The German foreign ministry said Hanoi had failed to provide an “adequate” response after the expulsion last month of the Vietnamese secret services chief in Germany over the affair.