A lawyer has urged Berlin to help a detained intelligence officer, who has "valuable information" and wants to go to Germany. The man has been accused of "revealing state secrets," a crime punishable by death in Vietnam.
Trinh Xuan Thanh, a Vietnamese oil tycoon allegedly kidnapped in Berlin, appears on television in his native VietnamImage: picture-alliance/dpa/H.Dinh Nam
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Lawyers representing fugitive Vietnamese intelligence officer Phan Van Anh Vu confirmed on Tuesday that Singaporean authorities took their client into custody.
Vu confirmed that "apart from being a property developer, he was also a senior officer in the Vietnamese intelligence services," Singaporean lawyer Remy Choo told AFP news agency.
"Vu is a lieutenant colonel of the Vietnamese secret police in division five of the Ministry of Public Security, which is responsible for the abduction of … Trinh," a letter from the German lawyer said.
The lawyer called on Berlin to grant Vu's a residence permit for "urgent humanitarian reasons" so Vu can travel to Germany rather than being sent to Vietnam.
Trinh Xuan Tanh applied for asylum in Germany, fearing persecution in VietnamImage: picture-alliance/dpa/Privat
'Valuable information'
According to German authorities, Thanh was kidnapped by Vietnamese security services from a Berlin park, a move reminiscent of Cold War-era disappearances. However, Vietnamese authorities have rejected such claims, saying Thanh voluntarily returned to his home country.
Pfaff has urged Germany to intervene in the case of Vu, who is accused of "deliberately revealing state secrets," considered a crime punishable by death.
Vu "could provide German authorities with valuable information on the abduction of Mr. Trinh and other matters," Pfaff said in a letter to Germany's Embassy in Singapore.
According to Singaporean authorities, Vu was arrested for "committing offenses under the Immigration Act." While Singapore does not have an extradition treaty with Vietnam, both countries share close diplomatic and trade ties.
Political crackdown?
German authorities fear that Thanh's forced disappearance from German soil may have been part of a wider political crackdown, which observers believe may be a ploy by the regime to further consolidate power.
On November 9, 1989 the border separating East and West Berlin suddenly opened, and the Berlin Wall became history. DW traces the remnants of the wall that divided the city.
Image: Britta Pedersen/ZB/dpa/picture alliance
Brandenburg Gate
The Berlin Wall divided Berlin for 28 years, two months and 27 days, from August 1961 to November 1989. The Brandenburg Gate had long been the symbol of the division of Germany. Even after the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, there was no passage here. That changed on December 22, 1989. Since then, Berliners have been able to walk unhindered through the landmark of their city again.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
East Side Gallery
The East Side Gallery on the River Spree in Friedrichshain is a 1.3-kilometer-long section of the so-called Hinterland Wall, which artists from all over the world painted in 1990. It was located in front of the death strip and a second wall. The area near the Oberbaumbrücke is a tourist attraction, but several wall elements have already been removed in the course of construction projects.
Image: DW/V. Esipov
Berlin Wall Memorial
Nowhere is the former "death strip" as vivid as it is here. An 80-meter-long segment of the Wall, including a guard tower, has been reconstructed. The authentic border fortification complex serves as a central reminder of the division of Germany. It pays homage to the victims who died or were killed at the Berlin Wall.
Image: DW/F. Wiechel-Kramüller
Traces of the route of the Wall
The Berlin Wall has disappeared almost everywhere in the city. East and West have now grown together. A strip of cobblestones in the city center marks where the Wall used to run.
Image: DW/F. Wiechel-Kramüller
Checkpoint Charlie
This border crossing is among the best-known sights in Berlin. Only foreigners and diplomats were allowed to pass through this checkpoint. In October 1961, shortly after the Wall was built, there was a standoff here as armed Soviet and American tanks stood face-to-face. The situation very nearly escalated.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/W. Kastl
The Palace of Tears
It was a place of tearful farewells. Hundreds of people crossed this border post at Friedrichstrasse station when leaving East Germany for West Berlin. The former departure terminal now serves as a reminder of the forced separation of friends and families. Visitors can walk through an original cubicle where passports were checked and relive the border clearance procedure for themselves.
Image: ullstein - Mrotzkowski
Hohenschönhausen Memorial
This former Stasi prison has been a memorial to the victims of communist dictatorship since 1994. Visitors are informed about the detention conditions and interrogation methods in communist East Germany. Former inmates lead the guided tours.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/P. Zinken
The former listening station at Teufelsberg
After World War II, this area was used to deposit debris. Rubble from the war was collected to form the Teufelsberg, the highest elevation in West Berlin. During the Cold War, the US National Security Agency used the hill as a listening station. From here, military radio signals from the Warsaw Pact countries could be intercepted, monitored and jammed.
Image: Ullstein/Getty Images
Glienicke Bridge
You might imagine that the exchange of captured spies only took place on the silver screen, but this bridge between Berlin and Potsdam was actually the scene of three such operations. Steven Spielberg used this historic place as a setting in his feature film "Bridge of Spies."
Image: imago/Camera4
German Spy Museum
This interactive museum right near Potsdamer Platz takes visitors into the world of espionage. Special emphasis is placed on activities in Berlin during the Cold War. Among the more than 300 exhibits is an East German Trabant car with infrared cameras hidden in its doors.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. von Jutrczenka
Berlin Wall Trail
The Berlin Wall Trail follows the path of the former division of the city and covers some 160 kilometers. The Japanese donated some 10,000 cherry trees "to bring peace in the hearts of the people." They were planted in different sections of the former Wall. This avenue is right by Bösebrücke, the first crossing to open on the day the Wall came down.
