Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned by two recent violent attacks on journalists in Vietnam. On April 21, assailants set fire to the car of journalist Hoang Thien Nga outside her home in Dak Lak Province, in the Central Highlands. Nga, the Dak Lak correspondent for the national daily Tien…
The vicious murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan focused international attention on the dangers faced by journalists covering the U.S. “war on terror,” yet most attacks on journalists in Asia happened far from the eyes of the international press. In countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines, reporters covering crime and…
Shortly after U.S. president George W. Bush arrived in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, in February 2002 for a state visit, the North Korean state news agency, KCNA, reported a miracle: that a cloud in the shape of a Kimjongilia, the flower named after the country’s leader, Kim Jong Il, had appeared over North Korea. “Even…
In an effort to contain public dissatisfaction with official corruption and a lack of political reform, Vietnam’s government tightened its already stringent control over the media during 2002. Writers were detained, harassed, placed under tight surveillance, or arrested for expressing independent viewpoints, while authorities targeted those who use the Internet to distribute independent news or…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent arrest of Nguyen Dan Que, a writer and publisher of the underground magazine The Future. His detention is the latest move in your government’s ongoing crackdown on free expression in Vietnam. On March 17, Que was arrested outside his home in Ho Chi Minh…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns today’s sentencing of Internet essayist Le Chi Quang to four years in prison. We are also concerned for the safety of former soldier Tran Dung Tien, who was detained after protesting Quang’s trial. Earlier today, following a three-hour trial on national security charges, the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Le Chi Quang, 32, to four years in prison followed by three years of house arrest. Quang was charged under articles 88 and 92 of the Criminal Code, which ban the distribution of information that opposes the government. Quang’s parents were the only observers allowed into the courtroom, while his lawyer was not allowed to present a defense before the court, according to CPJ sources.
New York, October 28, 2002—The trial of Internet essayist Le Chi Quang, originally scheduled for today, has been postponed until further notice, said international news reports and CPJ sources. According to Agence France-Presse, an official at the People’s Court in the capital, Hanoi, told reporters that, “Our judges need more time to prepare.” A new…
New York, October 22, 2002—The trial of Internet essayist Le Chi Quang, 32, is scheduled for October 28 in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi. He is being tried on national security charges, including distribution of “reactionary and subversive documents,” said CPJ sources. Quang was targeted after he wrote a number of essays criticizing government policy. On February…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the detention of writer Nguyen Vu Binh. At about 8 p.m. on September 25, security officials searched Binh’s home in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, before arresting him, said CPJ sources. It is not known where Binh is being held.
August 14, 2002, New York—Authorities in Vietnam will soon bring Internet essayist Le Chi Quang, 32, to trial on national security charges, according to CPJ sources. Quang has been in prison since February 21, 2002, when he was arrested for writing articles that criticized Vietnam’s border agreements with China. Officials from the Prosecutor’s Office informed…