An American diplomat was attacked by police in central Vietnam, the US Embassy said Thursday. A media report said the human rights officer was roughed up while trying to meet with a prominent dissident. US-funded Radio Free Asia said Christian Marchant, a political officer at the embassy in Hanoi, was attacked by police Wednesday outside the home of Catholic priest Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly.
It cited Ly as saying Marchant was wrestled to the ground by authorities and later put into a police car and driven away. Marchant's work on human rights was recently recognised with an award from the State Department.
The US Embassy did not release specific details about the incident, but confirmed that a diplomat was roughed up in the central city of Hue.
"We are aware of and deeply concerned by the incident in Hue and have officially registered a strong protest with the Vietnamese government in Hanoi as well as the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington, D.C.," embassy spokesman Beau Miller said.