AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
10 August 2011
Viet Nam urged to release jailed blogger
The Vietnamese authorities must immediately release a French-Vietnamese blogger who has been sentenced to three years in prison on national security charges, Amnesty International said today.
Professor Pham Minh Hoang, a maths lecturer who holds dual nationality, was accused of writing articles that “blackened the image of the country” by the judge at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City.
He told the court his writings were not aimed at overthrowing anyone, and that Vietnam needs to be more democratic, reports said.
“To imprison a blogger for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression is outrageous. The authorities should immediately release Professor Hoang, and stop their harsh crackdown on peaceful government critics and activists” said Donna Guest, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Asia-Pacific.
“Tuesday’s sentence, and the continuing arrests of activists and bloggers paint an increasingly bleak picture of freedom of expression and association in Viet Nam,” she said.
Professor Pham Minh Hoang, who is a member of the banned US-based opposition group Viet Tan, joined other activists in criticizing a Chinese-backed bauxite mine in Viet Nam’s Central Highlands, which they believe risks causing environmental degradation in the area.
The lecturer, who blogged under the name Phan Kien Quoc, moved to France in 1973 but returned in 2000 to settle in Viet Nam, where he taught mathematics at the Polytechnic University of Ho Chi Minh City.
Dozens of peaceful political critics and activists have been sentenced to long prison terms since Viet Nam began a crackdown on freedom of expression in October 2009.
Amnesty International is calling on the Vietnamese government to allow judicial independence, and to repeal or reform vaguely worded security legislation used to prosecute peaceful critics.
Pham Minh Hoang’s family says he will appeal against the sentence.
Public Document
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For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org
International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK
--
Working to protect human rights worldwide
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10 August 2011
Viet Nam urged to release jailed blogger
The Vietnamese authorities must immediately release a French-Vietnamese blogger who has been sentenced to three years in prison on national security charges, Amnesty International said today.
Professor Pham Minh Hoang, a maths lecturer who holds dual nationality, was accused of writing articles that “blackened the image of the country” by the judge at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City.
He told the court his writings were not aimed at overthrowing anyone, and that Vietnam needs to be more democratic, reports said.
“To imprison a blogger for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression is outrageous. The authorities should immediately release Professor Hoang, and stop their harsh crackdown on peaceful government critics and activists” said Donna Guest, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Asia-Pacific.
“Tuesday’s sentence, and the continuing arrests of activists and bloggers paint an increasingly bleak picture of freedom of expression and association in Viet Nam,” she said.
Professor Pham Minh Hoang, who is a member of the banned US-based opposition group Viet Tan, joined other activists in criticizing a Chinese-backed bauxite mine in Viet Nam’s Central Highlands, which they believe risks causing environmental degradation in the area.
The lecturer, who blogged under the name Phan Kien Quoc, moved to France in 1973 but returned in 2000 to settle in Viet Nam, where he taught mathematics at the Polytechnic University of Ho Chi Minh City.
Dozens of peaceful political critics and activists have been sentenced to long prison terms since Viet Nam began a crackdown on freedom of expression in October 2009.
Amnesty International is calling on the Vietnamese government to allow judicial independence, and to repeal or reform vaguely worded security legislation used to prosecute peaceful critics.
Pham Minh Hoang’s family says he will appeal against the sentence.
Public Document
****************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org
International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK
--
Working to protect human rights worldwide
DISCLAIMER
This email has been sent by Amnesty International Limited (a company registered in England and Wales limited by guarantee, number 01606776 with registered office at 1 Easton St, London WC1X 0DW). Internet communications are not secure and therefore Amnesty International does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose or rely on the information in this e-mail. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Amnesty International unless specifically stated. Electronic communications including email might be monitored by Amnesty International for operational or business reasons.
This message has been scanned for viruses by Postini. www.postini.com