(RSF/IFEX) – Police raided a cybercafé and arrested an Internet user on 11 March 2006, while he was taking part in a discussion forum on democracy hosted by the Pal Talk (http://paltalk.com) website. The forum’s administrator recorded the entire discussion including the police raid and arrest. Three others, “the Internet users of Kiem Street”, were […]
(RSF/IFEX) – Police raided a cybercafé and arrested an Internet user on 11 March 2006, while he was taking part in a discussion forum on democracy hosted by the Pal Talk (http://paltalk.com) website.
The forum’s administrator recorded the entire discussion including the police raid and arrest. Three others, “the Internet users of Kiem Street”, were arrested five months ago for joining discussions on the same forum and nothing has been heard of them since.
An audio tape recording the police arrest can be heard on http://www.rsf.org
“We don’t know the identity of the person arrested on 11 March, so it’s impossible to find out if he is still being detained,” said Reporters Without Borders.
“But this episode very well illustrates the risks run by Vietnamese democrats to get themselves heard. It also provides an insight into the kind of battle going on between the police and these young people who know their way around the Internet”, it added.
“We included Vietnam last November in countries we classify as ‘Enemies of the Internet’ which earned us virulent criticism from the Hanoi authorities. These new arrests confirm that Vietnam deserves to be on the list”, said the organisation.
An Internet user calling himself “Freedom for the country” (Tucdochodatnuoc) joined the discussion group “Democracy for Vietnam, the only way” (Dan Chu Cho Viet Nam Con Duong Duy Nhat) on 11 March. He went online at a Hanoi cybercafé, most likely at 65 Nguyen Chi Thanh Street. He discussed politics for around half an hour with two other people who were in the discussion. During the discussion he said he was a member of a pro-democracy working group. The entire conversation was recorded by the forum administrator, using the pseudonym Vuong Bat Nha.
While they were talking on the online forum, police entered the cybercafé and arrested him. On the recording someone can be heard asking him to go with them, and then someone else shouting “Hit him”. The administrator continued recording after the police intervention and no one came to disconnect the computer linked to Pal Talk. Afterwards, a man’s voice is heard on the microphone introducing himself as the cybercafé’s owner and confirming that one of his customers has been taken away by police. He added that he had been fined for “violating Internet law”.
In October 2005, three other Internet users, Truong Quoc Tuan, Truong Quoc Huy and Lisa Pham, were arrested for taking part in pro-democracy discussion forums on Pal Talk. See: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15869
