Pau: Exiled Lao democracy activist Joseph Akaravong is recovering in a hospital after undergoing emergency surgery due to a knife attack in southwestern France. The assailant, who remains unidentified, assaulted Akaravong in the center of Pau, according to the activist and a human rights group.
According to Radio Free Asia, the attack occurred around noon on Saturday, with Akaravong being stabbed three times in the throat and torso. French news portal Sud Ouest reported that the attacker is still at large. On Monday, Akaravong shared a photo from his hospital bed on Facebook, showing his injuries and describing the attacker as someone who wouldn’t confront him barehanded.
Akaravong is well-known for his criticism of the communist government in Laos, which has ruled for five decades with little tolerance for political dissent. His social media posts often discuss socio-economic conditions in Laos and critique the government. He fled Laos in 2018 after criticizing a dam collapse at the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project that resulted in numerous deaths. He was granted political asylum in France in March 2022.
The attack on Akaravong is not an isolated incident. Other Lao activists have faced violence or disappeared both within Laos and abroad, often in neighboring Thailand. In August 2019, Od Sayavong, a Lao activist based in Thailand, went missing in Bangkok, and the investigation remains unresolved. In May 2023, Kitiyano Bounsuan, another Thai-based Lao activist with U.N. refugee status, was shot and killed in Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani province.