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Harassed
July
Hanoi Moi, HARASSED
Tien Phong, HARASSED
Kinh Doanh Van Phap Luat, HARASSED
The Interior Ministry began investigations of three newspapers, the daily Hanoi Moi (New Hanoi) and weeklies Tien Phong (Pioneer) and Kinh Doanh Van Phap Luat (Business and Law), for allegedly disclosing state secrets. All three newspapers are published by Communist Party or state organizations. In March, Hanoi Moi's Sunday edition reported that Vietnam Airlines lost US$7.2 million when the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker went bankrupt because under the airline's contract with Fokker, cash payments to the manufacturer were nonrefundable. Tien Phong and Kinh Doanh Van Phap Luat published articles in May and June suggesting that the state-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp. was making excessive concessions to Broken Hill Proprietary Co., an Australian mining company that was attempting to renegotiate a production-sharing contract for an offshore oil field. Vietnam's criminal code prescribes prison terms of up to 15 years for intentionally disclosing state secrets, but does not define what constitutes a secret.
For more information contact asiaweb@cpj.org