VIETNAMESE GOVT ACCUSED OF MISTREATING JAILED PRIEST-CUM-NEWSPAPER EDITOR
November 21st 2009 06:31
Reporters without Borders has castigated the Vietnamese government, claiming it is “behaving in a criminal manner towards certain prisoners of conscience, keeping them in detention although they are in very poor health.
“Father Nguyen Van Ly, the editor of an opposition newspaper, has had as stroke in prison, while writer Tran Khai Thanh Thuy’s health has been undermined by harsh prison conditions.”
Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest, suffered a stroke on 14 November in his cell at Ba Sao prison, where he has been held since 2007.
The editor of the dissident newspaper Tu do Ngôn luan, Nguyen Van Ly is serving an eight-year jail sentence on a charge of “propaganda hostile to the government.”
Writer and human rights activist Tran Khai Thanh Thuy’s health suffered a marked deterioration after transferral to Hoa Lu prison, near Hanoi, on October 19.
The press freedom group says the Vietnamese themselves will not find any mention of these cases in the press, especially as the government has just issued a new directive of which article 7 makes the dissemination of news and information “not in accordance with the interests of the nation and people” punishable by heavy fines or the withdrawal of the journalist’s press card.
At least 21 journalists and bloggers are in prison in Vietnam.
“Father Nguyen Van Ly, the editor of an opposition newspaper, has had as stroke in prison, while writer Tran Khai Thanh Thuy’s health has been undermined by harsh prison conditions.”
Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest, suffered a stroke on 14 November in his cell at Ba Sao prison, where he has been held since 2007.
The editor of the dissident newspaper Tu do Ngôn luan, Nguyen Van Ly is serving an eight-year jail sentence on a charge of “propaganda hostile to the government.”
The press freedom group says the Vietnamese themselves will not find any mention of these cases in the press, especially as the government has just issued a new directive of which article 7 makes the dissemination of news and information “not in accordance with the interests of the nation and people” punishable by heavy fines or the withdrawal of the journalist’s press card.
At least 21 journalists and bloggers are in prison in Vietnam.
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