Court Reduces Blogger’s Sentence
RFA
11/29/2011
A Vietnamese court halves
the jail term of a professor convicted of publishing anti-state essays.
A Vietnamese court on
Tuesday reduced the jail sentence of a French-Vietnamese professor and blogger
following an outcry from Paris, the European Union, and human rights groups over
his imprisonment.
Pham Minh Hoang, 56, will be released on Jan. 13 after serving 17 months of a
three-year jail sentence for “undermining national security” and “ruining the
nation’s image” through writings critical of the Vietnamese government.
But the dual-nationality mathematician will then be required to serve three
years under house arrest.
Hoang's wife, Ba Le Thi Kieu Oanh, told RFA that she was the only person allowed
inside the courtroom during the appeal trial.
"As his wife, I felt glad, but I was also disappointed because the outcome
didn't meet my expectation. I've said many times that he is innocent and I think
the public agrees. If one is innocent, 17 months in jail and one month in jail
is the same thing," Oanh said.
"I thought he would be acquitted and released right away. So the verdict didn't
meet my expectations, but it shows a slight improvement on the Vietnamese side
and that makes me happy."
Oanh said that the French consulate in Ho Chi Minh city had offered assistance
to the family throughout Hoang's ordeal.
"They sent officials to the prison from time to time. They offered their
encouragement and said they would do what was in their power to assist my
husband," she said.
"I think the result came about as a result of the French pressure. The
prosecutor who proposed the verdict said that his reasoning was to maintain good
relations between the two countries."
Oanh said Hoang's three-year house arrest would restrict his movement and might
affect his ability to return to France.
"During the probation he must report to the local authorities and get their
consent before he is able to go anywhere."
Reform advocate
Hoang was arrested by Vietnamese police in August last year for having ties to
Viet Tan, a U.S.-based party pushing for reforms in Vietnam, where the party is
banned. Under Vietnamese law, his pre-trial detention counts towards his
sentence.
Viet Tan has been labeled a terrorist group by the country’s Communist Party.
Vietnam is ruled by a one-party political system.
Hoang confirmed during his trial in August this year that he had joined Viet Tan
in 1998 while he was living as a French citizen in France, where the
organization operates legally.
But the court ruled that Hoang had "blackened the image of the country" and
aimed to topple the government while writing 33 articles under the pen name Phan
Kien Quoc.
Hoang said at the time that the essays, which he voluntarily handed over to
police, did not contain any anti-state content and expressed remorse if they had
contributed to less public trust in the government.
Viet Tan welcomed the news of Hoang’s sentence reduction in a statement Tuesday,
and cited the professor’s family members as saying he had refused to accept
exile and insisted on staying in Vietnam upon his release.
Pressure ahead of appeal
Several rights groups called for Hoang’s unconditional release in the lead-up to
his appeal trial on Tuesday.
“Vietnamese authorities should immediately release the blogger Pham Minh Hoang
and vacate the verdict against him when his case comes up on appeal,” the New
York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement Monday.
“Vietnam keeps its chokehold on free expression by using vaguely-worded national
security laws to imprison peaceful activists,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia
director at Human Rights Watch. “Peaceful activists like Pham Minh Hoang deserve
to be heard by their fellow citizens, not silenced by the courts.”
The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders urged the court “to quash his
conviction,” adding that Hoang was “just expressing his views on subjects of
public interest in Vietnam, a right guaranteed by the country’s constitution.”
Hoang left Vietnam to study in France in 1973, but returned to his homeland in
2000 to teach mathematics at the Polytechnic University of Ho Chi Minh City.
He had since written several articles online about education, Vietnamese
sovereignty in its relations with China, and environmental pollution associated
with Chinese-run bauxite mines in Vietnam's Central Highlands.
In September, France said it was "deeply disappointed" that its call for Hoang
to be freed under a routine annual amnesty had not been heeded.
In July, Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesperson Nguyen Phuong Nga insisted
that “all of the basic rights and freedoms figure in the Vietnamese constitution
and in the laws that are below it” and “are respected in practice too,” adding
that “no one [in Vietnam] is punished for expressing their opinions.”
Reporters Without Borders ranks Vietnam 165th out of 178 countries on its press
freedom index and listed the country as an “Enemy of the Internet” in a report
issued in March this year.
Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in
English by Joshua Lipes.