WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand authorities have “no doubt” that two Vietnamese officials sexually attacked two young female servers at a restaurant during a visit to the country, but were unable to charge the men before they returned to Vietnam, police said Thursday.
Vietnam and New Zealand do not have an extradition treaty so the alleged attackers cannot be forced to face charges.
One of the women said they were attacked at a restaurant in Wellington in March days before Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính was due to visit New Zealand. The accused men were “associated with the police” in Vietnam and had met with officers at the police training college near Wellington, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters Thursday.
The woman, Alison Cook, told The Associated Press that she and another server at the Vietnamese restaurant where they worked were attacked in a private karaoke room by two men who pulled the servers into their laps, pinned them against a wall and groped them. She said she was forced to drink alcohol and believed she was also drugged.
Cook, then 19, said she sustained an injury in the assault. The women reported the attack to the authorities the next day.
The Associated Press does not usually identify people who say they were subjected to sexual abuse, but Cook said she preferred to have her name used.
“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,” Detective Inspector John Van Den Heuvel said in a statement.
Indecent assault is a legal term in New Zealand that covers unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature. It is punishable by up to seven years in jail.
By the time officers had confirmed the identities of the two men they were no longer in the country, Van Den Heuvel said. They would not have been covered by diplomatic immunity, which is reserved only for top diplomats.
Authorities in New Zealand have now exhausted all plausible investigative avenues, Van Den Heuvel said. He added that police sent a letter through New Zealand’s foreign ministry to Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Van Trung “outlining what had taken place and expressing New Zealand Police’s deep concern" about the men's behavior.
Cook urged New Zealand authorities to ask Vietnam's government to return the men to face prosecution.
“If they choose to give up now on this case it’s setting a devastating precedent that it’s OK to commit sex crimes in New Zealand as long as you can leave,” she said.
The Vietnamese Embassy in Wellington did not immediately respond to a request for comment and no one was there when the AP visited on Thursday.
The restaurant where the women worked did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A sign outside the offices of the Vietnam Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
People walk past the Wellington Central Police station in Wellington, New Zealand, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mixed Thursday ahead of a decision by the European Central Bank on interest rates that was expected to yield at least a quarter percentage point cut to the current 3.25% benchmark.
Analysts said the monetary authority for the 20 euro currency countries in the European Union was bound to act now that inflation has fallen to target levels and growth is slowing.
Germany's DAX edged 0.1% higher, to 20,423.73, while the CAC 40 in Paris was up less than 0.1%, at 7,426.24. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.2% to 8,321.29.
The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.2%.
Chinese shares rose as leaders met in Beijing to set economic plans and targets for the coming year. The government announced plans to expand trial private pension programs to the entire country, beginning Dec. 15.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 1.2% to 20,397.05 and the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.9% to 3,461.50.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index advanced 1.2% to 39,849.14, led by buying of technology shares. Advantest Corp., which makes equipment for testing computer chips, gained 5.1%, while chip maker Tokyo Electron was up 0.6%.
South Korea's Kospi gained 1.6% to 2,482.12 and the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia slipped 0.3% to 8,330.30.
Taiwan's Taiex climbed 0.6% and the Sensex in India shed 0.3%. The SET in Bangkok edged 0.1% lower.
U.S. stock indexes resumed climbing on Wednesday after an update on inflation appeared to clear the way for more help for the economy from the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 rose 0.8% to break its first two-day losing streak in nearly a month. Big Tech stocks helped drive the Nasdaq composite up 1.8% to 20,034.89, its first close above 20,000. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, dipped 0.2%.
Inflation in the U.S. ticked up to 2.7% in November from a year earlier from 2.6% in October, fueled by pricier used cars, hotel rooms and groceries. That shows some price pressures remain elevated, but not enough to prevent the Fed from cutting interest rates at its meeting next week.
The Fed began trimming rates in September from a two-decade high to support a slowing job market after getting inflation nearly all the way down to its 2% target. Lower rates would give a boost to the economy and to prices for investments, but they could also provide more fuel for inflation.
Expectations for a series of cuts to rates by the Fed have been one of the main reasons the S&P 500 has set an all-time high 57 times this year, with the latest coming last week.
Albertsons fell 1.5% after filing a lawsuit against Kroger, saying it didn’t do enough for their proposed $24.6 billion merger agreement to win regulatory clearance. A day earlier, judges in separate cases in Oregon and Washington had nixed the supermarket giants’ merger. The grocers contended a combination could have helped them compete with big retailers like Walmart, Costco and Amazon, but critics said it would hurt competition.
In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil picked up 28 cents to $70.57 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude oil, the international standard, gained 27 cents to $73.79 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 152.52 Japanese yen from 152.46 yen. The euro rose to $1.0518 from $1.0496.
People gather in front of the New York Stock Exchange in New York's Financial District on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
Currency traders talk each others near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A currency trader walks near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Currency traders watch computer monitors near the screens showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A currency trader stands near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
