Political prisoner Pham Doan Trang gets another recognition for her human rights and freedom endeavors and the Vietnamese Communist Party is not happy with the award.
- Title: Việt Nam phản đối giải thưởng Phụ nữ Can đảm mà Hoa Kỳ trao cho tù chính trị Phạm Đoan Trang
- Publish Date: March 17, 2022
- Publisher: RFA Tiếng Việt
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Note: Original texts in Vietnamese
The “International Women of Courage” award that the United States gave to political prisoner Pham Doan Trang in Vietnam was considered by Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang to be “unobjective, inappropriate, and not valid. beneficial to the relationship between the two countries. Vietnamese state media reported on March 17 about Ms. Hang’s above statement at a press conference in Hanoi.
According to this spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, Vietnam always protects and promotes the rights of its people, including the rights of women.
On March 14, Vietnamese dissident journalist Pham Doan Trang and 11 women from other countries around the world were awarded the International Women of Courage Award by the US Department of State.
At the award ceremony, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the unfair imprisonment of dissident journalist Pham Doan Trang and called on the Vietnamese Government to immediately release her.
In the description of journalist Pham Doan Trang on the website of the US State Department, the imprisoned journalist is said to have “courageously wrote about social issues not covered by the Vietnamese media”.
Journalist and human rights activist Pham Doan Trang was sentenced to nine years in prison on December 14, 2021 by the Hanoi first instance court for “conducting propaganda against the state”.
After the Hanoi Court sentenced Ms. Pham Doan Trang, the US State Department also issued a statement calling on the Vietnamese government to release Ms. Trang and allow all individuals in Vietnam to freely express themselves. opinion without fear of reprisal.
The Canadian Embassy in Hanoi also released a statement on its official Facebook page about the prison sentence of Ms. Pham Doan Trang. The Canadian diplomatic mission called on “Vietnamese authorities to allow journalists to practice without fear of arrest, harassment or retaliation, and to end widespread censorship and control over the media.” communication and freedom of speech.
Human rights organization Amnesty International released a statement calling the nine-year prison sentence handed down by a Hanoi court to journalist Pham Doan Trang “horrific”.
Writers International – a world-renowned organization for the protection of freedom of thought and expression of journalists and authors, released a press release calling the trial and the sentence that the Vietnamese government pronounced against the Vietnamese government. Pham Doan Trang is “an act of revenge to silence Pham Doan Trang, and to punish her for what she did.”
Reporters Without Borders – RSF calls on the international community to impose sanctions on the Vietnamese officials responsible for such an unacceptable decision against Ms. Pham Doan Trang.
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