Incarcerated blogger Ta Phong Tan has been on hunger strike since mid-May to protest the mistreatment of political prisoners at the prison where she is being held in Vietnam's central Thanh Hoa province.
Excerpt of a 9 June 2015 CPJ Blog post by Shawn W. Crispin, Senior Southeast Asia Representative.
Incarcerated blogger Ta Phong Tan has been on hunger strike since May 13, 2015 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 since she was detained in September 2011 for her critical reporting.
News of Tan’s protest broke Monday [June 8] when her sister, Ta Minh Tu, spoke with reporters and press freedom activists after a June 3 prison visit. Tu said Tan is currently being held in solitary confinement in a stifling windowless jail cell and that her health has declined as a result of the hunger strike. Despite pleas from her family, Tan has refused to end her protest, according to reports quoting Tu.
