Trinh Xuan Thanh's father speaks out about his son

Mr. Trinh Xuan Gioi - former Deputy Head of the Central Committee for Mass Mobilization, Mr. Thanh's father - said that for about 3 weeks now, Mr. Thanh has not returned home. His family still calls the phone number that Mr. Thanh uses regularly...

A leader of Hau Giang province confirmed that the province tried to contact Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh by phone but was unsuccessful, so it is currently unclear where Mr. Thanh is.

Regarding the fact that Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh had previously submitted a request to the Standing Committee of Hau Giang Provincial Party Committee for a one-month leave to treat his illness and the leave ended on September 3 but he has not yet returned to work in Hau Giang, a provincial leader confirmed that this information is correct.

This leader said the province tried to contact Mr. Thanh by phone but was unsuccessful, so it is currently unclear where Mr. Thanh is.

On the evening of September 7, speaking to the press, Mr. Trinh Xuan Gioi - former Deputy Head of the Central Committee for Mass Mobilization, Mr. Thanh's father - said that for about 3 weeks now, Mr. Thanh has not returned home. His family called the phone number that Mr. Thanh often uses but could not reach him.

“We only know that Thanh asked for leave to go for medical treatment, but now we don’t know exactly where he is. At the beginning of last month, Thanh kept coming back home, but now we can’t contact him, so we don’t have any information,” said Mr. Gioi.

According to neighbors living next to Mr. Gioi's house and some security guards working to protect the building, Mr. Thanh used to go back to his parents' house frequently, but for nearly a month now, he has not appeared again.

Previously, on September 7, Mr. Bui Van Sau, Head of the Organization Committee of Hau Giang Provincial Party Committee, said that Mr. Thanh's 1-month leave had expired (from August 3) but this official had not yet returned to Hau Giang.

On September 4, Mr. Thanh unexpectedly called a reporter in Can Tho. After presenting many contents of an “explanatory” nature regarding issues related to him as reported by the press, Mr. Thanh said that he had submitted an application to leave the Party and sent it to the central authorities as well as the Hau Giang Provincial Party Committee.

Specifically, Mr. Thanh affirmed that in mid-July 2016, he signed a petition to the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee requesting to leave the Provincial Party Committee for the 2015-2020 term because he was no longer the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, "so holding the position of Provincial Party Committee member was unnecessary." On August 29, he also signed a petition to the Standing Committee of the Hau Giang Provincial Party Committee requesting to leave the Party.

According to Dan Viet