Vietnam confirms abducted man was not in Slovakia

The Vietnamese businessman who was allegedly kidnapped by the Vietnamese secret service from Germany to his country of origin last year was not transferred via Slovakia and was not in the Slovak Government's aircraft, either, Slovak Interior Minister Denisa Saková (Smer-SD) stated on Wednesday. Saková was citing official information received from Vietnam. "We received official information from the Vietnamese Government, which we won't challenge," said Saková. The businessman, Trinh Xuan Thanh, 51, was allegedly kidnapped while Vietnamese Minister of Public Security To Lam was officially visiting Slovakia. According to the German press, some suspects possibly involved in the abduction appeared during Lam's presence in Bratislava, and the Slovak Interior Ministry even provided a plane to the Vietnamese delegation to bring it from Prague and later to take it to Moscow after what the Vietnamese described as sudden changes in their plans. The German media claimed that the Vietnamese could have been on board the Slovak aircraft. The interior minister added that a Vietnamese Government minister is due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G7 summit in Canada later this week to discuss the issue and "refute speculation on the abduction that emerged in the media."