Bill Hayton, BBC News
August 28, 2006
The Vietnamese authorities have told diplomats they will free a prominent democracy activist and other dissidents ahead of a visit by US President Bush.
Activist Pham Hong Son was jailed over four years ago after he translated and distributed an article on democracy.
Observers see the move as an attempt to placate critics before a series of crucial votes in the US Congress.
The release is part of a general amnesty of some 5,300 prisoners to mark National Day on 2 September.
Trade vote
Pham Hong Son was top of the lists of Vietnamese dissidents compiled by the United States and the European Union.
He had been sentenced to five years in jail after downloading an article about democracy from the US State Department website, translating it into Vietnamese and publishing it online.
According to relatives he is currently in poor health.
Another prisoner to be released is Ma Van Bay, a Protestant minister from the Hmong ethnic minority from north-western Vietnam who was sentenced to six years in jail in 2004.
He was on a list given to the Vietnamese authorities by the US ambassador-at-large for religious freedom, John Hanford, during a visit 10 days ago.
Diplomats have said they believe the releases are intended to blunt attacks on Vietnam's human rights record ahead of votes in the US Congress vital for normalising US-Vietnamese trade relations.
However, several other dissidents are not being released including a former journalist, Nguyen Vu Binh. Earlier this month five other writers were briefly detained for planning to publish an independent newspaper.
A number of other campaigners, particularly from the country's dissident Buddhist organisation, remain under house arrest.
Activist Pham Hong Son was jailed over four years ago after he translated and distributed an article on democracy.
Observers see the move as an attempt to placate critics before a series of crucial votes in the US Congress.
The release is part of a general amnesty of some 5,300 prisoners to mark National Day on 2 September.
Trade vote
Pham Hong Son was top of the lists of Vietnamese dissidents compiled by the United States and the European Union.
He had been sentenced to five years in jail after downloading an article about democracy from the US State Department website, translating it into Vietnamese and publishing it online.
According to relatives he is currently in poor health.
Another prisoner to be released is Ma Van Bay, a Protestant minister from the Hmong ethnic minority from north-western Vietnam who was sentenced to six years in jail in 2004.
He was on a list given to the Vietnamese authorities by the US ambassador-at-large for religious freedom, John Hanford, during a visit 10 days ago.
Diplomats have said they believe the releases are intended to blunt attacks on Vietnam's human rights record ahead of votes in the US Congress vital for normalising US-Vietnamese trade relations.
However, several other dissidents are not being released including a former journalist, Nguyen Vu Binh. Earlier this month five other writers were briefly detained for planning to publish an independent newspaper.
A number of other campaigners, particularly from the country's dissident Buddhist organisation, remain under house arrest.
3 comments:
Bush visits communist country? Pumping up relationship and give a few billions to Vietcong in weapons? How about democracy party in Cambodia, would you give them a damn? Come on father of democracy, sell more technologies to Vietcong communists to spy on democracy believers...
ahahahahah!
Don't worry brother! Those weapons will be outdated in 10years! Many of the weapon given out by Uncle Sam are outdated or the left over from the cold war!
Now about Democracy in Cambodia and I don't think Cambodia will ever achieve democracy as long as the Vietcong involved in Cambodian politic! The question that every Cambodian people need to ask themselves is Which one is better to live under the Vietcong domination or China domination? You need to understand that both the Vietcong and China are communist countries!
Since Cambodia has too much bitter history with the Vietcong already and I said invite China to counter these Vietcong but too often China tend to get along well with the Vietcong and Cambodia continue contiue to be left out in the cold!
So what is the next option? There is no option! Cambodian is a dying race! Unless Cambodian people become very radicalize like the Muslim and dare to sacrifice their life for the homeland!
Qui connait mieux la mentalite des Viets, la France ou les Etats Unis D'amerique?
Mdr, ni l'un ni l'autre!
________
Who knows the Viet's mentality best, France or the United States?
ROFL, neither!
08/31/06
AKnijaKhmer
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