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Chau Van Kham is serving a 12-year sentence in Vietnam’s Thu Doc Prison after he was arrested in the country in 2019 for being a member of pro-democracy group Viet Tan.
His family have had little contact with him since, sending medication from Australia to a relative to deliver to the prison.
His wife, Quynh Trang Truong, has said it’s very hard not having her husband home.
“My family very sad, very lonely,” she said.
She has been writing letters to the government pleading for help.
“We don’t know how much longer he has,” son Dennis Chau said.
The elder Mr Chau suffers from high blood pressure and problems with his eyes.
“We are very worried about him,” barrister Michael Polak said.
Mr Polak has made submissions to the United Nations, claiming the Sydney father was given an “unfair trial”.
A response from the United Nations is expected within months.
“We’re fairly confident they’ll be on our side on this, what that will give is it will give the Australian Government further ammunition to say, you’re holding an Australian citizen, he hasn’t had a fair trial, you need to release him,” Mr Polak said.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has said the Australian Government has been pushing the father’s case and will continue to do so.
“We have been making very senior representations to the Vietnamese authorities, including in person on my part, to the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister when I was in Hanoi at the end of last year and I raised it again with the Foreign Minister … last week,” she said.
Source: 9News
