- Prominent human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, released from wrongful imprisonment in Vietnam and exiled to Germany, will be visiting Finland in March (March 8, 2019 in Jeppo, Sunday 10, 2019 in Jakobstad) according to Friends of the Martyred Church (FMC).
- Reporters without borders informs that several Vietnamese bloggers were arrested or placed under close surveillance during this week’s talks in Hanoi between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also condemns this latest harassment of Vietnam’s few remaining dissident voices.
Reporters without borders: "Vietnamese bloggers under close watch during Trump-Kim meet in Hanoi" (March 1, 2019) Full text:
https://rsf.org/en/news/vietnamese-bloggers-under-close-watch-during-trump-kim-meet-hanoi?fbclid=IwAR0SwC5BVwbjd6XwZOF252lIelw32C-Uu8TG0GbOdLJDyfo45lPTguSLCAQ
“There is no justification for the arrests or surveillance of these bloggers aside from the Vietnamese regime’s obvious desire for total news control,” RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk said. “Although Hanoi used the summit to declare itself the ‘capital of peace,’ the event allowed the world to see the authoritarian excesses of a regime that is terrified of dissidents making their voice heard.”
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US Congressman Chris Smith: "Smith Introduces Vietnam Human Rights Act"
https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=401049
“The communist government in Vietnam to often gets a free pass on human rights but it has one of the world’s worst records, violating the fundamental rights of its citizens including independent religious groups, ethnic minorities and individuals vulnerable to human trafficking,” Smith stated.
“Governments that brutally assault the fundamental human rights of their own people are unlikely to become trustworthy allies. Thus, as the Vietnamese government seeks to expand trade and security relationships with the United States, we must link tangible human rights improvements to better relations, including by seeking the release over 150 political and religious prisoners,” Smith said.
Smith’s bill would make it U.S. policy to assess and sanction Vietnamese officials and others complicit in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights or particularly severe violations of religious freedom using the Global Magntisky Human Rights Accountability Act (P.L. 114-328) and the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 USC 6401)."
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Frontline defenders: Case History Nguyen Van Dai
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-nguyen-van-dai
"On 7 June 2018, Nguyen Van Dai and Brotherhood for Democracy colleague Le Thu Ha were released from prison and exiled to Germany. Nguyen Van Dai had served two months of a 15-year prison sentence at the time of his release, in addition to the 28 months Nguyen Van Dai had spent in detention following his arrest in December 2015. Both Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thu Ha elected not to appeal their guilty verdicts, handed down on 5 April 2018, due to lack of faith in Vietnam’s justice system. Nguyen Van Dai is joined in exile by his wife.
Front Line Defenders celebrates Nguyen Van Dai’s release from wrongful imprisonment, but regrets that the cost of this freedom is the defender’s exile from Vietnam."
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Min kristna samhällsblogg (9.6.2018): Breaking news! Human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai released!
https://minkristnasamhllsblogg.blogspot.com/2018/06/breaking-news.html
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