CPJ welcomes release of Vietnamese blogger Ta Phong Tan
New York, September 20, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from prison of Vietnamese blogger Ta Phong Tan and calls on authorities to release all other journalists and bloggers imprisoned in the country. Tan was freed from prison and traveled to the United States, where she arrived late Saturday, according to local and…
US-Vietnam strategic partnership must be contingent on press freedom
Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent visit to Vietnam was made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the former adversaries. While Kerry’s speech during his three-day tour emphasized the need for Hanoi to improve its rights record to deepen bilateral ties, it is time Washington dispensed with vaulted rhetoric and predicated future…
Q&A: Ta Phong Tan’s sister calls for release of ailing and jailed Vietnamese blogger
As an independent blogger, Ta Phong Tan often highlighted abuses in Vietnam’s justice system. Now as a prisoner of conscience serving a 10-year sentence for “propagandizing against the state,” an anti-state offense under Article 88 of Vietnam’s criminal code, she is suffering under the same abusive system she once critiqued and exposed.
Jailed Vietnamese blogger Ta Phong Tan on hunger strike over mistreatment
Incarcerated blogger Ta Phong Tan has been on hunger strike since May 13 to protest the mistreatment of political prisoners at the prison where she is being held in Vietnam’s central Thanh Hoa province, according to news reports. It is believed to be the third time Tan has fasted in protest at poor prison conditions…
Journalists overcome obstacles through crowdfunding and determination
During South Africa’s Boer War, at the turn of the 20th century, a determined news organization relocated reporters, copy editors, and printing presses to the front line to ensure accurate reporting. In the Warsaw Ghetto, during World War II, a literal underground press, established to counter Nazi propaganda, required the nightly movement of cumbersome printing…
#FreeThePress: Ta Phong Tan
Press Uncuffed #FreeThePress Spotlight Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: September 5, 2011 Ta Phong Tan Vietnam 1,476 days in prison RELEASED Ta Phong Tan journalist was released on September 19, 2015 after serving three years of a 10-year prison term given to her in September 2012 on anti-state charges in connection with her blog. Tan,…
Impact: A year in review
The past year has been a traumatic one for the press, with the high number of journalists killed and imprisoned underscoring the perils of a profession that requires being on the front line of history. Amid growing animosity by governments, and the threats posed by organized crime and militant groups such as the Islamic State,…
Four journalists honored for commitment to press freedom
New Initiatives Fund set up to help combat ‘war on journalists’ New York, November 26, 2014–Four journalists from Burma, Iran, Russia, and South Africa were honored Tuesday night at the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 24th annual International Press Freedom Awards for their work in defiance of imprisonment, repression, and censorship.
Vietnamese blogger ‘Mother Mushroom’ fears arrest for Facebook activity
New York, November 7, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned about the safety of Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, who has been repeatedly questioned by local police in Nha Trang about her activity on Facebook, and says that she fears arrest. Vietnam currently imprisons 17 journalists, most of them bloggers, according to…