While CPJ seeks the release of all imprisoned journalists in Vietnam, it has focused on blogger Dieu Cay because he was given, in absentia, a CPJ International Press Freedom Award in 2013, and is the longest jailed journalist in Vietnam--since April 2008.
The following is a 29 April 2014 CPJ blog post by Bob Dietz, CPJ Asia Program Coordinator:
In preparation for the 29 April 2014 Congressional Briefing on Media Freedom in Vietnam, organized by members of the U.S. House of Representatives and featuring a panel of Vietnamese bloggers and others, CPJ has been in close contact with the family of Nguyen Van Hai, a blogger who has been in jail since 2008. We have also met with several other bloggers from Vietnam, some of whom are in Washington, D.C. today.
While we seek the release of all imprisoned journalists in Vietnam, we have focused on Hai (also known by the name of his blog Dieu Cay, or Peasant’s Pipe) because he was given, in absentia, a CPJ International Press Freedom Award in 2013, and is the longest jailed journalist in Vietnam–since April 2008.