Hanoi [Vietnam], April 13: Human Rights Watch condemned the Vietnamese government, called on it to release all political prisoners and urged concerned governments to pressure Hanoi, following its decision on Wednesday to imprison a blogger for six years.
The call came after prominent Vietnamese activist and independent journalist Nguyen Lan Thang was sentenced by a Hanoi court on Wednesday in a closed-door trial. He is to spend two years under house arrest following the prison sentence.
"Vietnam's authorities systematically trample on human rights by punishing brave bloggers like Nguyen Lan Thang for expressing their views about the government," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
"Concerned governments, including Vietnam's trade partners in Europe, North America, Australia, and Japan should denounce the suppression of free speech and call for Nguyen Lan Thang's release.
"Vietnam's horrendous rights record is especially shameful given that the country is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council," Robertson said, adding that Hanoi should release Thang and "everyone imprisoned for peacefully exercising their basic civil and political rights." Thang said he was speaking up for the people of Vietnam and had no desire to go into exile because his fight is at home, according to one of his lawyers, who provided the information a few days before the trial.
"I am Vietnamese, so I live and fight for everything for my country, for my people, as a citizen of Vietnam, not to go to another country to fight," the lawyer said he was told.
Nguyen Ha Luan, one of Thang's defence lawyers, told dpa he could not reveal how Thang pled to the court's indictment because it was a closed-door proceedings and Thang's four lawyers are prohibited from sharing information about the proceedings.
Source: Qatar Tribune
