CPJ, partners call for journalists’ protection in Vietnam ahead of country’s human rights review
New York, November 2, 2023—Journalists in Vietnam are facing widespread threats and mistreatment, and have been routinely detained or imprisoned for their reporting and commentary, according to a joint submission to the United Nations prepared by the Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom House, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. The joint submission is being released…
Journalist Duong Van Thai arrested in Vietnam after disappearing in Thailand
Manila, April 18, 2023—Vietnamese authorities should immediately release journalist Duong Van Thai and stop all efforts to harass and detain members of the press living in exile, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On April 13, Thai, an independent journalist who posts political commentary on YouTube and has about 119,000 followers, went missing in…
Vietnam sentences journalist Nguyen Lan Thang to 6 years in prison
Bangkok, April 13, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday condemned the sentencing of imprisoned Vietnamese journalist Nguyen Lan Thang to six years in prison on anti-state charges in relation to his reporting on human rights issues in the country. “The harsh sentence handed to journalist Nguyen Lan Thang is an outrage and must be immediately and…
Jailed Vietnamese journalist Nguyen Lan Thang faces anti-state charges
Bangkok, April 10, 2023 – Vietnamese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Nguyen Lan Thang and drop all charges pending against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Thang, a political activist and contributor to U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Asia who also posted reporting on his personal social media accounts, was arrested on…
Forensic tools open new front for using phone data to prosecute journalists
On April 13, police in Russia’s Khakassiya republic arrested Mikhail Afanasyev and seized his digital devices. Afanasyev, chief editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus, was detained based on an article about riot police in southern Siberia refusing to serve in Ukraine. He faces a possible 10-year prison sentence for spreading “false” information. It’s not surprising for…
Vietnamese journalist Le Manh Ha harshly sentenced to 8 years in prison
Bangkok, October 26, 2022 – Vietnamese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Le Manh Ha and stop treating independent journalists as criminals for merely doing their jobs of reporting the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, October 25, the People’s Court of Tuyen Quang province sentenced Ha after a two-day…
Vietnamese journalist Huynh Thuc Vy beaten, choked by prison guards
Bangkok, October 14, 2022 – Vietnamese authorities must investigate, identify, and bring to full justice the prison guards responsible for physically abusing imprisoned journalist Huynh Thuc Vy, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On October 9, Vy told her young daughter that guards had beaten and choked her at the Gia Trung Prison, where…
Vietnam transfers IPFA winner Pham Doan Trang to remote prison facility
Bangkok, October 11, 2022 – In response to a news report and social media post that Vietnam has punitively transferred journalist Pham Doan Trang to a prison facility far away from her family, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation on Tuesday: “CPJ categorically condemns the transfer of journalist Pham Doan Trang to a detention facility far…
Vietnam sentences blogger Le Anh Hung to 5 years in prison
Bangkok, September 16, 2022 – Vietnamese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release imprisoned blogger Le Anh Hung and stop harassing journalists on spurious anti-state charges, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On August 30, the Hanoi People’s Court convicted and sentenced Hung to five years in prison under Article 331 of the penal code, an anti-state…
CPJ calls on Vietnam authorities to release IPFA winner Pham Doan Trang
Bangkok, August 16, 2022 – In response to news reports that the Hanoi People’s High Court in Vietnam will hold an appeals trial on August 25 for imprisoned journalist Pham Doan Trang, who was sentenced on propaganda charges to nine years imprisonment in December 2021, the Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday issued the following statement calling for…