Vietnam

ARTICLE 19 warns that proposed amendments to Vietnam’s 1992 Constitution go against international law and fail to protect fundamental human rights, in particular the right to freedom of expression and information.

A broad coalition of human rights organisations has called for UN free speech and human rights watchdogs to intervene and secure the immediate release of Vietnamese blogger and human rights activist Le Quoc Quan.

Vietnamese blogger Le Anh Hung was released after being held against his will in a psychiatric institution; he believes his detention was in connection with his blog posts on government corruption.

Vietnamese blogger Le Anh Hung is reportedly being held against his will in a psychiatric institution; he has faced prior harassment for his online criticism of high-level corruption and abuse of power inside the ruling Communist Party.

Thirty IFEX members protested the sentencing of bloggers, citizen journalists and rights activists, jailed for up to 13 years in the biggest ever trial of pro-democracy activists in Vietnam.

In a ruling condemned as yet another move aimed at silencing opposition voices, 13 pro-democracy activists were jailed in Vietnam for writing commentary critical of the government, and participating in and encouraging peaceful protest.

Vietnam’s crackdown on independent bloggers hit a new low in recent days with reports of sexual violence perpetrated by state officials against a prominent online reporter.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the rulings that courts issued in the cases of three bloggers – Nguyen Van Hai, Ta Phong Tan and Phan Thanh Hai, and in the case of investigative journalist Nguyen Van Khuong.

A Vietnamese court took just 45 minutes to confirm blogger Dinh Dang Dinh’s six-year jail sentence on appeal; he has reportedly been mistreated by prison staff and there are concerns for his health.

Songwriters Vo Minh Tri and Tran Vu Anh Binh were sentenced to four and six years in prison in Vietnam respectively, for conducting “anti-state propaganda” via their critical songs posted on the Internet.

Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the harsh and unjust jail sentences that a court imposed today on three bloggers on charges of anti-state propaganda at the end of a summary trial in southern Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City.

A new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists highlights government tactics suppressing press freedom in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister has issued a directive calling on authorities to impose “serious punishments” on those responsible for three popular anti-corruption blogs that he described as “slanderous”.

Dissent has suffered a crackdown in Vietnam in recent years, with bloggers often being the main target, reports Index on Censorship.

Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the four-year jail sentence that a Vietnamese court passed against a reporter for his stories on police corruption.

By arresting a journalist and holding him incommunicado, the Vietnamese authorities are again displaying complete intolerance and incomprehension towards criticism, said Reporters Without Borders.