Vietnam: jail criticized for 3 journalists ahead of Party Congress
The logo of the city of Hanoi sits in front of a convention building, ahead of the Communist Party Congress on January 25, 2021, in the Vietnamese capital.
AFP - NHAC NGUYEN
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
Three Vietnamese journalists were sentenced on Tuesday during a speedy trial in Ho Chi Minh City to terms of 11 to 15 years in prison for criticizing the communist regime.
These very harsh sentences come in the run-up to the 13th One-Party Congress which will be held from January 25 to February 2 in Hanoi.
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The Hanoi regime did not strike at random.
Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Le Huu Minh Tuan, members of the Association of Independent Journalists of Vietnam, are known for their advocacy for democracy.
They were convicted in a hasty trial in Ho Chi Minh City of "
providing and disseminating information online against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
".
They were also sentenced for having "
been in regular contact with opponents of the regime
" inside and outside the country before their arrest at the end of 2019 and mid-2020.
The three men admitted to writing articles "
to support freedom of expression and other rights
", but denied having disseminated information against the Communist regime.
"
These sentences pronounced against these journalists of the association of independent journalists of Vietnam are extremely shocking,
denounces Daniel Bastard, the Asia-Pacific manager for Reporters Without Borders, at the microphone of
Jelena Tomic,
of the international service of RFI.
Indeed, the fifteen-year prison sentence imposed on Pham Chi Dung, the president of the association, is extremely heavy.
You should also know that these members of the association, for veterans, are former militants.
They are made to pay for their freedom of speech and how they try to criticize the current leadership of the Communist Party which is completely sclerotic.
"
Clan logic denounced
The three journalists “
are not against the communist regime as such,
continues Daniel Bastard.
But they are against the current leadership of the Communist Party, which functions as a sort of clique, of a clan, without the party's militants having any say in the direction of the country and the decisions taken by the government.
"
Communist Party congresses, which take place every five years, make it possible to renew the members of the central committee and the political bureau, the supreme governing body which resulted from it.
"
A regime like Vietnam, one-party, takes a very bad view that the Party meets as it does every five years,
underlines the head of RSF,
because he is afraid that a debate will arise. even within the Party.
And that is why, ahead of this congress, any voice which could be dissenting or which could incite debate within society, within the party, must be extinguished.
"
"Disappointment" in Washington
The United States reacted by saying it was "
disappointed
" by these sentences.
"
These harsh sentences are the latest in a worrying trend of arrests and convictions of Vietnamese citizens exercising their rights
," said a spokesperson for the US State Department.
We call on the Vietnamese government to ensure that its actions are in line with the human rights provisions of its constitution and its international obligations.
"
170 political prisoners are currently imprisoned in the country, according to data from the NGO Amnesty International.
(and with
AFP)
►
See also: Vietnam: RSF condemns the arrest of a famous human rights activist writer
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