March 13, 2012
Hanoi – A coalition of international organisations called on the Vietnamese government Tuesday to release five Catholic bloggers.
In a letter to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, the press freedom groups expressed “deep concern over the unfounded arrest and detention” of Dang Xuan Dieu, Ho Duc Hoa, Nguyen Van Duyet, Nong Hung Anh and Paulus Le Son.
The five men were reportedly detained in July and August, although the government has yet to publicly confirm the arrests.
The bloggers are said to belong to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a Catholic order which in recent years has organised prayer vigils against perceived government harassment.
The letter said they are suspected of “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration’ under Article 79 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.” The rights groups assert that “there are no grounds for such charges against any of the five.”
Dieu and Hoa are community organisers. Duyet is a leader of a Catholic workers’ association. Anh is a university student and Son is an independent journalist.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not comment on the matter.
Reporters Without Borders on Monday listed Vietnam as an “enemy of the internet,” and said “paranoid Vietnamese authorities have stepped up repression” with bloggers being the target of a new crackdown.
The organisations that signed the letter are ACAT France, Access Now, Article 19, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Front Line Defenders, Index on Censorship, Media Defence – Southeast Asia, Media Legal Defence Initiative and Southeast Asian Press Alliance.
Source: DPA
