Huynh Buu Long

At 2:00 pm on January 14, Huynh Buu Long, Truong Chau Huu Danh, Phuong Ngo and a woman went to An Suong - An Lac Toll Plaza to question the officials on the purpose of the station and  what type of fees they have charged. An Suong - An Lac Toll Plaza is one of the BOTs being protested since 2018 because they collected fees beyond their contract duration, which ended in January 2017.

Right after that, hundreds of people, including public security officers, police in uniform, and individuals wearing masks, raided their three cars and towed them into a dead-end alley, which was 50 meters away from the BOT. All of them were isolated in cars by barriers, cars, and a powerful security force without receiving food from the outside during the incident.

When leaving the car to find a restroom at around 9:00 pm, Huynh Long was suddenly arrested by unidentified individuals, who threatened him into stopping his activism against BOT An Suong - An Lac. The aggressors drove him on their motorcycles around the town before taking his belongings and leaving him in District 12 the next morning. Being scared of his disappearance, Truong Chau Huu Danh, Phuong Ngo and the rest stayed inside the car until the next day and kept live-streaming their incident on Trương Châu Hữu Danh’s Facebook. 

On January 15, the security force of Binh Tan District came to the cars in the morning and worked with them until the afternoon. That morning, Huynh Buu Long managed to return to the scene. Finally, authorities imposed administrative fines on the drivers for “stopping the car illegally, causing a traffic jam.” Meanwhile, security forces ignored drivers’ reports about their incident and their demands to investigate the arbitrary detention, as well as damage to the cars during the towing process. After more than 24 hours, they were finally able to leave the alley late in the afternoon.