Prime Minister Christopher Luxon left in the dark about assault by Vietnamese officials

• Police are certain two Vietnamese officials indecently assaulted a pair of Wellington waitresses, but cannot charge them.
• Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said extradition is unlikely. Police identified the suspects, but they had left the country, and no extradition treaty exists.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has conveyed concerns to the Vietnamese ambassador.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he only learned about an alleged indecent assault of two women by members of a visiting Vietnamese delegation this morning, when they emerged in the media.

Asked why the issue was not raised with him earlier, he said it was “quite normal that that wouldn’t have come through to me at that point of time”.

He noted that the incident referred to a delegation of visiting Vietnamese officials, who were in the country prior to a visit by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in March.

“There was an independent Vietnamese delegation that came out associated with the police. They met with the police at the Police Training College. The Prime Minister’s visit was later and independent of this,” Luxon said.

The two accused officials cannot be charged despite the fact police have “no doubt” the crimes occurred because New Zealand has no extradition treaty with Vietnam.

Luxon said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Winston Peters, police and officials had been “doing an investigation”.

“They’ve been meeting with Vietnamese authorities, both police and Foreign Affairs as well,” Luxon said.

Luxon said an extradition was unlikely because of the lack of an extradition treaty.

Police received two complaints in March that a pair of women were indecently assaulted at work, and officers began investigating, district criminal investigations manager Detective Inspector John Van Den Heuvel said.

Police reviewed CCTV footage and spoke to witnesses.

“Police established who our suspects were and that they were Vietnamese officials, visiting on official business. Inquiries were then made with the Vietnamese Embassy who made every effort to assist police with our investigation,” Van Den Heuvel said.

By the time police identified the suspects, they had already left New Zealand.

“As we have no extradition treaty with Vietnam, we were unable to commence extradition proceedings, and as such no charges were laid.”

Police then wrote a letter to be sent through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to the Vietnamese ambassador, explaining what had happened and “expressing New Zealand Police’s deep concern over this behaviour”.

Luxon said that there was an ongoing investigation and that,“police are in Vietnam meeting with their counterparts, we have had officials with Foreign Affairs raising the issues as well to understand what actions will be taken domestically within Vietnam.”

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade shared those concerns and this was conveyed to the ambassador.”

MFAT confirmed the Vietnamese officials were not entitled to diplomatic immunity, as this only applies to diplomatic staff accredited to New Zealand.

“Police have no doubt these two women were indecently assaulted by two men while working and had these men still been in New Zealand we would have pursued criminal charges,” Van Den Heuvel said.

Police carried out a “thorough investigation” and updated the victims regularly, as well as offering them Victim Support.

“While we know this is not the outcome they would have hoped for, police have exhausted all plausible investigative avenues.”