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Tag: Press Freedom

  • Pham Doan Trang in BBC News Vietnamese: Hanoi court sentenced freelance journalist Pham Doan Trang to 9 years in prison

    The first-instance trial of journalist Pham Doan Trang ended at the end of the afternoon on December 14 with a 9-year prison sentence for her for “conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”, as prescribed at Article 88 of the Penal Code 1999.

    Excerpt:

    Speaking to BBC News Vietnamese right after the trial, lawyer Ngo Anh Tuan, one of the defense lawyers for Ms. Doan Trang, said:

    “The representative of the Procuracy suggested 7 to 8 years in prison. The trial panel sentenced him to 9 years in prison. They pronounced this sentence not against the law. Previously, the trial panel only pronounced within the framework proposed by the Procuracy, but according to the new law. Now, they have the right to declare higher than the proposal of the Procuracy.”

    When asked whether the lawyers and Ms. Pham Doan Trang were able to present enough arguments in the trial, lawyer Tuan briefly said, “incomplete”.

    The Vietnamese media said, “The prosecution assessed that Pham Thi Doan Trang’s anti-corruption activities seriously affected security and order, causing anger and anger among the public and the people.”

    On his personal Facebook page, lawyer Dang Dinh Manh, one of Pham Doan Trang’s defenders in court today, wrote:

    “Talking to us at the detention center the day before the trial, perhaps 90% of Ms. Pham Thi Doan Trang will decide to appeal the first-instance judgment.”

    Pham Doan Trang was arrested on the day of the end of the two-day Vietnam-US human rights dialogue, October 6-7, 2020.

    During more than a year in detention, Ms. Pham Doan Trang only met her lawyer once on October 19, 2021 and never met her family.

    Lawyer Ngo Anh Tuan recounted his exchange with Ms. Doan Trang on October 19, 2021 on his personal Facebook:

    “In 10 times, she was pressured but she refused to answer and asked for a new lawyer to declare but was not accepted;

    During the working process, Ms. Trang did not cooperate, did not confess and never confessed, so if there is a clip of confession released in any form, it means that it was cut, not correct. the truth.”

    What does the international say?

    After the trial, Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director, Human Rights Watch, issued a statement saying:

    “It is infuriating that Pham Doan Trang was sentenced to 9 years in prison just for expressing his views and defending his beliefs.”

    “The imprisoning of a reformer dedicated to promoting human rights, good governance and justice is a stinging indictment.”

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    Hanoi court sentenced freelance journalist Pham Doan Trang to 9 years in prison BBC News Vietnamese
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    Toa Ha Noi xu tu 9 nam nha bao tu do Pham oan Trang BBC News Tieng Viet
    Tòa Hà Nội xử tù 9 năm nhà báo tự do Phạm Đoan Trang – BBC News Tiếng Việt.pdf
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  • Pham Doan Trang in Reuters: Vietnam jails dissident journalist for 9 yrs over ‘anti-state’ acts

    Reuters discloses how the Vietnam Communist Party retains tight media censorship and tolerates little criticism, as it jails journalist and prominent dissident Pham Doan Trang for nine years.

    Excerpt:

    A court in Vietnam jailed a journalist and prominent dissident for nine years on Tuesday for anti-state activities, her lawyers and state media said, in a case that attracted the attention of international human rights groups.

    Pham Doan Trang, who published material widely on human rights and alleged police brutality in Vietnam, was convicted of “conducting propaganda against the state” by a Hanoi court, according to her legal team and state-controlled media.

    Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and tolerates little criticism.

    Calls to the court seeking confirmation of the verdict went unanswered.

    “It was such a long sentence, close to the maximum term for such activities,” said one of her lawyers, Nguyen Van Mieng, adding that Trang had not pleaded guilty at the trial and they would meet later to discuss a possible appeal.

    Trang, 43, was detained hours after an annual U.S.-Vietnam human rights dialogue in October last year, an arrest the U.S. embassy said could impact freedom of expression.

    Dang Dinh Manh, another member of her legal team, said the nine-year sentence was severe.

    “The judges insisted that Trang’s activities were dangerous for society and for the administration,” Manh said.

    The United States condemned the conviction and called on the government to release Trang, adding that everyone should be allowed to express views freely and without fear of retaliation.

    “We also urge the government to ensure its laws and actions are consistent with the human rights provisions of Vietnam’s Constitution and Vietnam’s international obligations and commitments,” the state department said in a statement.

    Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, called the verdict an unacceptable sentence for a brave woman who only spoke her mind.

    “The imprisonment of such a committed reformer dedicated to promoting human rights, good governance and justice is a searing indictment of everything that is wrong with authoritarian Vietnam today,” he said.

    “In a democratic society, Trang’s prolific ideas and writings would be admired and extolled rather than criminalised.”

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  • Pham Doan Trang in The Bangkok Post: Prominent dissident journalist jailed in Vietnam

    Pham Doan Trang — a campaigner for press freedom and civil rights — has long been a thorn in the side of authorities, writing on a host of controversial issues from land grabs to police violence.

    Excerpt:

    The former state media reporter was accused of “spreading propaganda against the socialist republic of Vietnam”, said judge Chu Phuong Ngoc.

    “Her behaviour was dangerous for society… implemented with the intention of violating the socialist regime… and (she) must be seriously punished”.

    During the hearing, Trang testified to being detained 25 times since 2015, and said she had been “terrorised” by security forces.

    She walked with a limp due to a leg injury sustained when police broke up an environmental protest she attended six years ago.

    In 2016, as a freelancer, she wrote extensively on the country’s worst environmental disaster, a toxic spill that killed tonnes of fish in central Vietnam and prompted rare protests across the country.

    That same year she was detained by police on her way to a meeting with then-US President Barack Obama in Hanoi, who had invited her to join a gathering of activists during his visit.

    Trang was detained again in November 2017 after meeting with a European Union delegation, which was preparing for the annual bilateral human rights dialogue between the EU and Vietnam.

    In her book “Politics of a Police State”, she recounted the continual harassment she endured during these years.

    It included police pouring glue over her apartment’s door lock to prevent her from leaving and posting intimate photos taken from her computer.

    In a letter she wrote in 2019 entitled “Just in case I am imprisoned”, Trang urged the public to focus on fighting for free and fair elections in Vietnam, rather than her freedom.

    “I don’t want freedom for just myself: that’s too easy,” she wrote.

    “I want something greater: freedom for Vietnam.”

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  • Luat Khoa and Pham Doan Trang in Human Rights Watch Vietnam: Free Prominent Blogger

    Luat Khoa and Pham Doan Trang in Human Rights Watch Vietnam: Free Prominent Blogger

    Human Rights Watch calls on the Vietnamese government to drop politically motivated charges against Pham Doan Trang.

    Title: Vietnam: Free Prominent Blogger
    Publish Date: December 13, 2021
    Publisher: Human Rights Watch

    Excerpt:

    The Vietnamese authorities should drop all criminal charges against the prominent human rights activist and blogger Pham Doan Trang and immediately release her, Human Rights Watch said today. On December 14, 2021, a court in Hanoi is scheduled to put her on trial for “conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code. She could receive up to 12 years in prison.

    Police arrested Pham Doan Trang, 43, on October 6, 2020 in Ho Chi Minh City, just a few hours after the annual human rights dialogue between the United States and Vietnam, and transported her to Hanoi. After charging her, they held her for more than a year in pretrial detention without access to a lawyer. The case against her and her mistreatment violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Vietnam ratified in 1982.

    Pham Doan Trang has long been involved in peaceful protests against government policies. She has joined demonstrations outside police stations and at airports when fellow activists have been detained, participated in anti-China protests, and helped lead pro-environmental marches. She exhibited solidarity for fellow activists by trying to attend government show trials, and, at great personal risk, she periodically visited families of imprisoned dissidents to provide them with support and assistance.

    Aided by other bloggers, she wrote and published on her blog a brief history of the Vietnamese “blogosphere.” She has written, in real time, on the arbitrary and illegal arrests of activists, protesters, and bloggers, and the forced closure of an online newspaper. She frequently urges people to use social media in a responsible way that promotes a non-violent, thriving civil society movement.

    Pham Doan Trang has also consistently advocated for an impartial, rights-respecting justice system. She has been an editor of the online Law Magazine, which has published many articles and translations concerning lawyers and human rights, the struggle against forced confessions, state use of corporal punishment, domestic violence, legal reforms in China, high-profile death sentence cases in Vietnam, protections against self-incrimination, and many other topics.

    Update: On December 14, 2021, a Hanoi court sentenced Pham Doan Trang to nine years in prison. Before her trial, Pham Doan Trang prepared a statement for publication. The English version is available here. The original Vietnamese is available here.

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    211214 Pham Doan Trang Statement
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    211214 Pham Doan Trang Statement VN
    211214 Pham Doan Trang Statement_VN.pdf
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    Vietnam Free Prominent Blogger Human Rights Watch
    Vietnam_ Free Prominent Blogger _ Human Rights Watch.pdf
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  • Pham Doan Trang in The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Viet Nam: release writer held on “propaganda” charges – UN experts

    UN human rights experts today called on Viet Nam to immediately and unconditionally release detained writer and woman human rights defender Ms Pham Doan Trang who faces “anti-State propaganda” charges and the possibility of up to 12 years in jail.

    Excerpt:

    “Ms Pham Doan Trang is only the latest victim of the authorities’ use of vaguely defined propaganda charges to persecute writers, journalists and human rights defenders, criminalising the exercise of their right to freedom of opinion and expression to share information,” the experts said.

    Ms Pham Doan Trang, detained in Hanoi temporary detention centre 1, was arrested in October 2020. She was held in pre-trial detention for more than a year before being allowed to meet her lawyer, and charges were not brought until the end of August this year. She has not been allowed to meet her family and has only recently received medical treatment, despite deteriorating health. Her trial, initially scheduled for 4 November, has been postponed and is likely to take place in the coming weeks.

    “As we have said many times before, Article 88 of the 1999 Criminal Code†, under which she is charged, is vaguely defined and violates international human rights norms,” the experts said. “We reiterate our call to the government to repeal all such provisions that violate the right to freedom of opinion and expression.”

    The arrest and detention of an individual exercising their right to freedom of expression to report on human rights issues is an arbitrary deprivation of liberty under international human rights law, the experts said. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention deemed Ms Pham Doan’s detention arbitrary in an Opinion 40/2021 issued in September 2021.

    The charges against Ms Pham Doan Trang stem from at least three human rights reports she co-authored, as well as interviews she gave with foreign media outlets. The reports – covering the 2016 Formosa marine environmental disaster, a 2016 law on religion, and human rights issues in Viet Nam in general – are being used as evidence by the prosecution.

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    OHCHR Viet Nam release writer held on propaganda charges UN experts
    OHCHR _ Viet Nam_ release writer held on “propaganda” charges – UN experts.pdf
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  • Pham Doan Trang in German PEN – Vietnam: Pham Doan Trang wird Ehrenmitglied des deutschen PEN

    According to a Press Release, Pham Doan Trang becomes an honorary member of German PEN.

    Press Release:

    Note:  Original texts in German.

    Darmstadt, May 18, 2021. The German PEN Center appoints the independent journalist Pham Doan Trang as an honorary member and calls for her immediate release. She is considered one of the most prominent critics of the Vietnamese government and was arrested at her home in Ho Chi Minh City on October 6, 2020. She faces up to 20 years in prison for alleged propaganda against the state.

    “Vietnam is one of the countries in the world where freedom of expression is particularly severely restricted. The Communist Party persecutes media workers with relentless severity, so Trang has been banned from contact with her family and her lawyer. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of our honorary member Pham Doan Trang and assure her of our full solidarity,” said Ralf Nestmeyer, Vice President and Writers-in-Prison Officer of the German PEN.

    Pham Doan Trang founded the online magazine Luât Khoa and is an editor at thevietnamese. Both media make it easier for Vietnamese citizens to understand the country’s laws, defend their rights and oppose the authoritarian rule of the Communist Party. A month before her arrest, Trang published a report for which she had researched a violent police raid on a village on the outskirts of Hanoi, where residents were resisting the authorities’ confiscation of their land.

    Because of her work, Trang was repeatedly targeted by the Vietnamese authorities. In August 2018, she was beaten in police custody and required hospital treatment. In prison, she is now at risk of being abused again. In 2014 she was a Feuchtwanger Fellow at Villa Aurora in Los Angeles and in 2019 she received the Press Freedom Award for particularly effective journalism from Reporters Without Borders.

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    Vietnam Pham Doan Trang becomes honorary member of the German PEN PEN Center Germany
    Vietnam_ Pham Doan Trang becomes honorary member of the German PEN _ PEN Center Germany.pdf
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  • LIV in International Press Institute Vietnam: Journalists and media watchdogs fear increased persecution

    LIV in International Press Institute Vietnam: Journalists and media watchdogs fear increased persecution

    Trinh Huu Long, co-director of Legal Initiatives for Vietnam (LIV) is quoted by IPI Contributor Loren Sandoval Arteaga on harassment and jailing of journalists.

    Excerpt:

    “There is no sign that there will be improvements in the coming years”, Trinh Huu Long, the co-director of Legal Initiatives for Vietnam, an advocacy organization for human rights, democracy and law in Vietnam, told IPI. “The man who is largely responsible for the decline of media freedom in Vietnam over the past five years was re-elected to the top seat. The party is sending negative signals, as they elected a former spy chief of the national police to one of the most four powerful positions, and people have started to spread a rum or that he will be the next prime minister.”

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    Vietnam Journalists and media watchdogs fear increased persecution International Press Institute
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  • Pham Doan Trang in Voice of America: Vietnam Seeks to Further Limit Press

    Hanoi is set to implement a new decree on December 1 which seeks to to tighten control over the news media even more.  Under the decree, anyone sharing information that authorities deem harmful but not serious enough for a criminal penalty could face steeper fines and a longer, 12-month suspension.

    With this,  independent journalists, such as Pham Doan Trang, who was jailed earlier this month, are at greater risk of arrest.

    Excerpt:

    Vietnam’s journalists and social media users face a new obstacle to independent reporting through a government decree that imposes harsh penalties for sharing information deemed harmful to the country.

    Observers and rights activists see the decree, due to go into effect Dec. 1, as part of Hanoi’s increasing efforts to tighten control over the news media.

    Since January, Vietnam has arrested about 20 journalists, publishers and social media users over critical content; demanded that Facebook agree to censor “anti-state” posts; issued a one-month publishing ban on the news website Phu Nu Online over its investigations into environmental damage; and, last week, arrested prominent blogger and democracy activist Pham Doan Trang.

    Vietnamese journalist Pham Doan Trang was awarded a 2019 Press Freedom Prize for Impact, Sept. 12, 2019, in Berlin. “I hope this award will encourage the Vietnamese people to engage more in press freedom," she told VOA Vietnamese.
    Vietnamese journalist Pham Doan Trang was awarded a 2019 Press Freedom Prize for Impact, Sept. 12, 2019, in Berlin. “I hope this award will encourage the Vietnamese people to engage more in press freedom,” she told VOA Vietnamese.

    Under the latest decree, signed Oct. 7 by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, anyone sharing information that authorities deem harmful but not serious enough for a criminal penalty could face steeper fines and a longer, 12-month suspension.

    The law previously allowed for fines of up to 100 million Vietnamese dong (US $4,300) and suspensions of up to six months. The most severe order was a three-month ban the Ministry of Information and Communications imposed on news outlet Tuoi Tre Online in July 2018. The ministry accused the outlet of disseminating false news over its reporting on the president’s comments on a protest law.

    Provincial people’s committees and local authorities, along with the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Press Authority, will have power to issue the penalties.

    Appeals are allowed, but administrative fines in Vietnam have to be paid within 10 days.

    “The Vietnamese press is not the same as overseas. The country is governed by one-party rule. It does not accept pluralism or multiparty. It does not accept criticism,” Vo said. “They explicitly and unequivocally declare that the press is a propaganda tool of the party and state.”

    Vietnam has a poor record for free media, ranking 175 out of 180 countries, where 1 is the most free, on an annual index compiled by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

    Journalists at state-run and state-approved outlets have to register and meet certain requirements, such as having a press card and press activity permit.

    But independent journalists, such as Pham Doan Trang, who was jailed earlier this month, are at greater risk of arrest.

    The journalist’s Oct. 6 arrest “is another leap forward into an outright crackdown by the Communist Party of Vietnam,” Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk, told VOA Vietnamese.

    “RSF is appalled by the arrest of Pham Doan Trang, who was honored with our Press Freedom Award for Impact exactly one year ago. Her only crime was to provide her fellow citizens with trustful information and enable them to fully exercise their rights,” Bastard said.

    Pham, an outspoken democracy activist and author, was arrested on anti-state propaganda charges, police and state media said.

    Rights groups condemned the arrest, which took place hours after annual U.S.-Vietnam human rights talks, and they warned that the blogger risked torture in custody.

    Pham, who was arrested at an apartment in Ho Chi Minh City, is accused of “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” To An Xo, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security, said.

    The blogger writes about legal issues, citizen rights and politics, and in September he released a joint investigative report into a government attack on a village that was the center of a land dispute.

    The U.S. State Department expressed concern over Pham’s arrest.

    “Her detention could impact freedom of expression in Vietnam. We urge the Vietnamese government to ensure its actions and laws are consistent with Vietnam’s international obligations and commitments,” the State Department said in a statement sent to VOA via email.

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    Vietnam Seeks to Further Limit Press
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  • Pham Doan Trang in CPJ: Journalist Pham Doan Trang arrested on anti-state charges in Vietnam

    The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Vietnamese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release journalist Pham Doan Trang and drop anti-state charges against her.

    Excerpt:

    Trang, a prominent journalist who contributes regularly to several independent news sites, was arrested just before midnight yesterday in Ho Chi Minh City, according to news reports.

    She was charged with “propaganda against the State” under Article 117 of the penal code, according to a statement posted on the Ministry of Public Security’s website today. Convictions under Article 117 carry maximum jail terms of 20 years. Vietnam has detained and threatened several journalists under the charge in recent months, as CPJ has documented.

    “Authorities should immediately release journalist Pham Doan Trang, drop the charges against her, and cease their decade-long campaign of harassing her,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Vietnam must stop treating independent journalists like criminals.”

    CPJ could not independently verify where Trang was being detained and under what conditions.

    Reuters reported that Trang was arrested just hours after an annual U.S.-Vietnam human rights dialogue meeting was concluded.

    Trang, who reports widely on human rights-related issues including cases of police abuse, founded the local Luat Khoa legal magazine and edits and writes for the independent English-language The Vietnamese news site, according to news reports.

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    Journalist Pham Doan Trang arrested on anti state charges in Vietnam Committee to Protect Journalists
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  • Pham Doan Trang in BBC News – Pham Doan Trang: Vietnam arrests leading pro-democracy blogger

    A few hours after The 24th annual US-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue, Vietnamese authorities arrested journalist Pham Doan Trang on grounds of “anti-state propaganda.”  The acclaimed activist is a known advocate of democracy, press freedom and the rule of law in Vietnam.

    Excerpt:

    Pham Doan Trang was detained in Ho Chi Minh city late on Tuesday and accused of carrying out anti-state activities.

    Ms Trang has been detained before and is an advocate for democracy, press freedom and the rule of law in Vietnam.

    Vietnam’s one-party communist state frequently jails its critics. There was no immediate comment from the US.

    Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have demanded her immediate release.

    Ms Trang has been charged with “making, storing, disseminating or propagandising information, materials and products that aim to oppose the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”, state media report.

    Such charges carrying jail terms of up to 20 years.

    “There will be more arrests of dissidents and human rights activists before the Communist Party’s 13th Congress early next year,” fellow dissident Pham Thanh Nghien told BBC Vietnamese. “It turns out Doan Trang is first in line.”

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