VN: Relatives of Fr. Ly, Internet dissidents, released

Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=8623

Vietnam
Authorities release three cyber-dissidents who defended freedom of worship

19.02.2004

Reporters Without Borders has learned that Nguyen Vu Viet (photo), the
nephew of imprisoned priest Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, was released on 18
February. His brother, Nguyen Truc Cuong, was released a few days
before that, while his sister, Nguyen Thi Hoa, was freed at the end of
November. The three were arrested in June 2001 for using e-mail, fax
and telephone to circulate information abroad about freedom of worship
in Vietnam.

Reporters Without Borders has learned that Nguyen Vu Viet, the nephew
of imprisoned priest Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, was released on 18
February. His brother, Nguyen Truc Cuong, was released a few days
before that, while his sister, Nguyen Thi Hoa, was freed at the end of
November. The three were arrested in June 2001 for using e-mail, fax
and telephone to circulate information abroad about freedom of worship
in Vietnam.
__________________________________________________ _______________

28.11.2004

Three cyberdissidents have sentences reduced on appeal

Nguyen Truc Cuong and Nguyen Vu Viet had their jail terms of four and
five years both reduced to 32 months on appeal. Their sister had her
three-year sentence reduced to four months and six days. Since she had
already spent more than two years in jail she was freed immediately
after the trial on 28 November.
__________________________________________________ _______________

Three Vietnamese cyberdissidents, who were jailed for defending
religious freedom, have had their sentences reduced on appeal

Nguyen Truc Cuong and Nguyen Vu Viet had their jail terms of four and
five years both reduced to 32 months on appeal. Their sister had her
three-year sentence reduced to four months and six days. Since she had
already spent more than two years in jail she was freed immediately
after the trial on 28 November.

Foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung said the sentences had been reduced
because the accused had genuinely acknowledged their crimes during the
appeal.

Reporters Without Borders said pressure over the past weeks from the
United States and the European Union had been fruitful. It regretted
however that the judges had decided to leave two of the
cyberdissidents in jail.

(Picture of Nguyen Truc Cuong)
__________________________________________________ _______________

Three cyberdissidents on appeal trial for defending religious freedom

Three Vietnamese cyberdissidents were expected to go an appeal trial
on 28 November after a lower court sentenced them to jail terms of
three to five years for defending religious freedom, in email, fax and
telephone messages abroad.

Reporters Without Borders has urged the appeal judges to exercise
leniency towards Nguyen Vu Viet, Nguyen Truc Cuong and Nguyen Thi Hoa.
"These three, of whom the youngest is only 27 years old have simply
voiced support for religious freedom, which is a right recognised by
the Vietnamese State. We expect the judges to announce their release
at the appeal, said Robert Ménard, secretary-general of the
international press freedom organisation. We note that cyberpolice
operate as much surveillance over religious expression as political
dissent. We condemn these Orwellian practices by the Vietnamese
regime," he added.

Nguyen Vu Viet, 27, Nguyen Truc Cuong, 36, and their sister Nguyen Thi
Hoa, 44, are the nephews and niece of an imprisoned Catholic priest
Nguyen Van Ly, who was arrested in June 2001. They are accused of
"taking advantage of democratic freedoms and rights to damage the
interests of the government, social organisations and citizens."
Amnesty International has said that the charge sheet against them
includes a precise list of all their communications abroad.

The appeal trial comes just after the Vietnamese police launched a
major offensive against Vietnam's Unified Buddhist Church, which has
been strongly condemned by the European Parliament. The US House of
Representatives has also passed a resolution calling on Hanoi to
release all Vietnamese imprisoned or under house arrest for practising
their faith or defending religious freedom. After an extraordinary
meeting, the presidium of the central committee of the Vietnam
Fatherland Front - a satellite organisation of the Vietnamese
Communist Party - on 27 November denounced the US and European
resolutions, which it said "misrepresented religious reality in
Vietnam".

The presidium also stressed that the stances taken could damage
economic co-operation between Vietnam and the various countries
involved. It called on its citizens to "redouble their vigilance in
the face of plots and acts by hostile forces aiming to sabotage the
great national unity bloc."

Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press
freedom throughout the world, as well as the right to inform the
public and to be informed, in accordance with Article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Reporters Without borders has
nine national sections (in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), representatives
in Abidjan, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Montreal, Moscow, New
York, Tokyo and Washington and more than a hundred correspondents
worldwide.


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