October 29, 2008
Hanoi – Vietnamese Communist Party authorities are to fire two editors at a national newspaper that published articles critical of thegovernment’s policy, sources at the paper said Wednesday. “We have received the Party’s decision to punish us,” said Dang Ngoc, vice editor-in-chief of the newspaper Dai Doan Ket (Great Unity). “The decision said that we had violated Vietnam’s press law.”
Dai Doan Ket is the voice of Vietnam’s Fatherland Front, a powerful patriotic organization affiliated with the Communist Party.
Ngoc said he and editor-in-chief Ly Tien Dung had been notified of the decision by Fatherland Front Secretary General Vu Trong Kim.
The decision reportedly says the paper violated the press law by publishing three stories that conflicted with government and Communist Party policies.
In early 2007, the paper published a piece by Christian priest and Fatherland Front member Nguyen Thien Cam advocating making the Front independent of the Communist Party.
In November 2007, the paper ran a letter written by war hero General Vo Nguyen Giap, opposing plans to build a new National Assembly building on a site where archaeological remains of Hanoi’s ancient citadel were discovered, leading to months of dispute over the new building in local media.
Finally, an opinion piece by veteran journalist Thai Duy in February argued that the “foreign” character of Soviet-style socialism embraced by Vietnam’s National Assembly in 1975 had alienated the Vietnamese people from the Party.
Vietnam’s government disclaimed responsibility for the firings, saying it was Fatherland Front’s decision.
“We did not intervene,” said vice minister Do Quy Doan of the Ministry of Information and Communications, which oversees Vietnam’s media.
Fatherland Front official Nguyen Van Vinh refused to comment.
“I don’t think the decisions are fair,” said a Dai Doan Ket reporter who declined to be named. “They just aimed to punish brave journalists who dared to point out Vietnam’s social injustices and government authoritarianism.”
The firings at Dai Doan Ket come two weeks after a Vietnamese court sentenced reporter Nguyen Viet Chien to two years in prison, and fellow reporter Nguyen Van Hai to two years of “re-education without detention,” for reporting on a major corruption scandal.
“What we see is a worrying trend,” said Marie-Louise Thaning, counselor at Sweden’s embassy in Hanoi. She said Sweden would emphasize to Vietnamese officials the importance of “an open society, which requires a free and independent media that is allowed to raise the voice of concern from the public.”
Last week the European Parliament passed a resolution labeling Chien and Hai’s convictions “an attack on the freedom of expression.” Rights organizations including Amnesty International and Reporters Sans Frontieres also strongly protested the sentences.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/239098,vietnam-communists-fire-critical-journalists.html