The Writers in Prison Committee outraged by sentences handed down to 2 journalists in Vietnam

  

20 October 2008 

The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN is outraged by the two-year prison sentence imposed on Nguyen Viet Chien and the two-year non-custodial sentence handed down on Nguyen Van Hai, both journalists accused for their reporting on a major corruption case. International PEN considers their convictions to be in breach of Article 19 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.  

According to International PEN’s information, journalists Nguyen Viet Chien and Nguyen Van Hai, reporters for the Vietnamese language newspapers Tuoi Tre and Thanh Nien respectively*, were both arrested on 13 May 2008. Their detention was linked to their reports on high-level corruption in the so-called “PMU-18” scandal in 2006.  It is said that the scandal provoked the resignation of some senior officials, some of whom who were allegedly linked to stolen development funds which were used to gamble on European football, rather than to build roads and bridges.   

On 15 October 2008 the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced both journalists under Article 258 of the Vietnamese Penal Code, for ‘abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interest of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens’.  Nguyen Viet Chien was given a two-year imprisonment sentence after pleading his innocence, while Nguyen Van Hai was handed down a non-custodial two-year re-education sentence, after pleading guilty.   

International PEN remains alarmed about the situation of freedom on expression in Vietnam. In September, there was an apparent crackdown on dissent as a number of writers were arrested for their peaceful dissident activities. It is believed that some of them are still detained, while others remain under ‘residence surveillance’.   

For the previous WiPC alert on Vietnam, visit:

http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/vietnam-crackdown-on-dissidents  

For the BBC’s country profile on Vietnam:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1243338.stm 

The WiPC recommends:

http://www.cpj.org/news/2008/asia/vietnam15oct08na.html  

Please send appeals:

- Protesting the sentences imposed on Nguyen Viet Chien and Nguyen Van Hai, and calling for their convictions to be quashed. 

- Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained for the peaceful exercise of their right to free expression in Vietnam, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is a signatory.

 

 

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