Sit-in at Vietnamese embassy in solidarity for young woman indecently assaulted

Ali Cook at the sit-in two weeks ago. Photo / Henry Broadbent

In response to the decision not to extradite the officials who assaulted her, Ali Cook and supporters staged a sit-in at the Vietnamese embassy, delivering an essay and cover letter.  

During the sit-in on October 3rd, elevators opened and closed – some walking over Cook’s banner, others going back down. The door to the embassy stayed open as Cook sat opposite, holding her sign: “What about me?” 

Ali Cook moved to New Zealand in 2022 disappointed with the political climate in the States and hoping for something better. 

But in 2024, while working at the now-closed restaurant Saigon, Cook was sexually assaulted by two visiting members of a Vietnamese police delegation. Cook took the necessary steps by reporting her story to the police. 

The end result? The officers had returned to Vietnam, no extradition was possible, and no justice was served. New Zealand and Vietnam do not have an extradition treaty, so the attackers would have had to turn over voluntarily. 

Cook said she was initially assured extradition was possible, but that position changed when media attention dwindled. On October 1st, she was informed that it wasn’t possible. 

“This is such a prominent issue, not only in my case, generally men who have a lot of power taking advantage of women and not getting in any trouble – and I’m just sick of that,” Cook said. 

In a statement to 1News, a spokesperson for PM Christopher Luxon said, "It's disappointing that police requests for extradition have been unsuccessful ... Clearly it is not the outcome we wanted." 

Although justice has been denied in her case, Ali Cook has used her experience to advocate for change. She recently co-signed a letter to MPs with Salient editor Phoebe Robertson, calling for clarity over the Government's handling of her case and the extradition process for foreign officials. 

Alongside the letter, Cook released a bill proposal, The case for Independent Legal Advice (ILA) for all Survivors of Sexual Violence, which proposed publicly funded, trauma-informed legal support for survivors navigating the justice system.  

Cook posted her bill proposal to Parliament last week, working with MP Tamatha Paul, who had lodged questions about why extradition was refused. 

Sit-in attendee Aría Lal was pleased to see the support for Cook. 

“It’s been genuinely horrifying and it’s really just an extremely sad and exceptionally stupid set of circumstances that has occurred,” Lal said. 

“In an ideal world, we see responses from both governments, and we see the New Zealand government pressuring some action to occur to resolve this.”  

George Baker agreed and said he was outraged when he first heard about the case. 

“For Ali to be here today advocating for herself is extremely powerful, and I feel honored to be able to be here with her and helping support her with this horribly unjust case,” Baker said.