Dear Friends,
First of all, on behalf of my entire family, I would like to send our sincerest thanks to each and every one of you who have lent your earnest support since the arrest of my brother, Pham Minh Hoang, on August 13 in Vietnam.
So many friends everywhere, especially in France and various countries of Europe, have shared their concern for my brother’s safety, particularly because of their admiration for his years of prolific writings and journalistic activities.
Dear Friends,
With the confiscation of Hoang’s laptop and all of his personal reading and writing material and after days of constant interrogation, the Public Security Police have now known of his articles and other journalistic activities.
My brother is always deeply concerned and restless of what he sees in daily life in Vietnam. He often wrote about the lack of education, social justice, and commented on current events. He created the pen-name Phan Kien Quoc after returning to Vietnam and used the Internet to share his thoughts. Many people from various walks of life appreciated his articles, thanks to his sincere care and peaceful yet resolute suggested solutions. Hoang posted some of these articles on his blog, http://pkquoc.multiply.com.
Articles under the name Phan Kien Quoc also appeared on many periodicals (outside Vietnam) and websites. For example, on website Boxitvn.net, beside signing his name to the joint statement to protest the mining of bauxite in Central Vietnam, Hoang also contributed a number of articles, such as Ending Animosity – Why Not? on May 3, 2010 (http://www.boxitvn.net/bai/3467/). Many readers agreed with his calling on the government of Vietnam to end their policy of hatred and brutal treatment toward those with different political viewpoints. The government must respect people’s rights to develop the country in all areas.
For anyone who had had a chance to read Hoang’s articles, I think he or she would easily come to the conclusion that Hoang was indeed a patriotic intellect who cared deeply about the nation’s pains and made his views unequivocally known to all.
Given the discovery of his pen-name by the Public Security Police, I suspect the Vietnamese government will charge my brother with many more counts of “criminal misconduct” in the coming days. Their current silence can only mean they are preparing to launch measures to denigrate my brother as they always did to other condemned patriots before their trial dates.
Through this letter, we would like to inform you of the current persecution of my brother by the authorities based on his writings under the pen-name Phan Kien Quoc, and the possibilities of more charges being imposed on him under the criminal code article of Propagandizing against the Regime. If the Vietnamese government do that, they will just reveal themselves once again to the world that they have been suffocating the freedom of thoughts and freedom of expression in Vietnam.
We very much hope to have your continued commitment and support to ensure Hoang’s reunification with his family and fulfillment of his duty toward his countrymen.
Pham Duy Khanh
August 30, 2010
