Immediately after Viet Tan’s notification of the trial of Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan, Somsak Khunmi, and Nguyen The Vu on May 13, 2008, the French Congresswoman Francoise Hostalier wrote a letter to the Thai and Vietnamese Ambassador requesting their attention to this matter, especially on the matter of Somsak Khunmi who is an associate for Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, or Journalist Thanh Thao, a French Vietnamese Citizen.
According to Francoise Hostalier the strong international pressure has helped the release of some of the arrested Viet Tan members and associates. She is of the opinion that the freedom should be applied to all six people detained in November.
Francoise Hostalier also wrote a letter to the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, praising French Foreign Ministry’s intervention and pressure on the Vietnamese government to release Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van. She asked Mr. Kouchner to continue to raise his voice for other people arrested with Ms. Thanh Van and ask for their release so that they can unite with their family.
To Ambassador Le Kinh Tai
62 Rue Boileau. 75016 Paris
Paris May 9, 2008
Dear Ambassador Le Kinh Tai,
I contacted you in January 2008 to request your help for the release of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van who was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City while working on a report on Vietnamese farmers. You were very helpful and your intervention in this matter has resulted in the release of my friend Nguyen Thi Thanh.
However, Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh Van’s cameraman, Mr. Somsak Khunmi, a Thai citizen, is still in prison and will be brought to trial in the coming days together with two other men, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Quan, a US citizen and Mr. Nguyen The Vu, a Vietnamese citizen.
The activities of the group which aim to understand the conditions of Vietnamese farmers might be considered by you to be illegally, but I think those activities cannot be punished
As Ambassador you are the Vietnamese representative to France which value Human Rights, and you know better than anyone else that the activities of those arrested are very normal in any democratic country. This is the reason why I am asking for your intervention and help and hope the arrested activists can soon reunite with their families and friends.
I hope that you will look into my request.
Your sincerely.
Françoise Hostalier