BERLIN (AP) — A Vietnamese man charged with involvement in the kidnapping of a former Vietnamese oil executive in Berlin has gone on trial in the German capital.
The 47-year-old, identified only as Long N.H. because of German privacy rules, is charged with espionage and being an accessory to deprivation of liberty. Germany believes the kidnapping was a Vietnamese intelligence operation.
German authorities say executive Trinh Xuan Thanh and a woman accompanying him were snatched off the street, bundled into a van and taken to Vietnam in July. Vietnam claims Thanh, who was seeking asylum in Germany, returned voluntarily.
Thanh, the former chairman of PetroVietnam's construction arm, was given two life sentences earlier this year for embezzlement.
The suspect who went on trial Tuesday is accused of providing logistical help for the kidnapping.
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