Undercover in Vietnam: Bloggers play risky game of cat-and-mouse to report
In the first of a four-part “Undercover in Vietnam” series on press freedom in Vietnam, CPJ Southeast Asia Representative Shawn Crispin explores the risks bloggers take so they can cover news events and protests. Under near-constant surveillance and with the threat of arbitrary detention hanging over them, the desire for an independent press drives Vietnam’s…
A message from son of Vietnam blogger Nguyen Van Hai
In preparation for today’s Congressional Briefing on Media Freedom in Vietnam, organized by members of the U.S. House of Representatives and featuring a panel of Vietnamese bloggers and others, CPJ has been in close contact with the family of Nguyen Van Hai, a blogger who has been in jail since 2008. We have also met…
Confronting the suffering in Vietnam’s prisons
Dinh Dang Dinh, a former Vietnamese schoolteacher and blogger, died on April 3 from cancer of the stomach. Near death, he had been released from his six-year prison sentence on March 21, and allowed to return home to die in Dak Nong province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. His crime, to which he had pled not…
Vietnam Tightens the Squeeze on Its Bloggers
A mushrooming blogosphere has challenged the state’s media monopoly, drawing a heavy-handed bid to bring the Internet under government control. By Shawn W. Crispin Blogger Pham Viet Dao attends a conference on social media in Hanoi on December 24, 2012. Dao was arrested on June 13, 2013, on accusations of anti-state activity. (Reuters/Nguyen Lan Thang)
Tweets from a night at the 2013 #IPFA gala
On Tuesday night, CPJ honored four courageous journalists with the 2013 International Press Freedom Awards. The gala dinner, at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel, raised more than $1.65 million for CPJ’s worldwide press freedom advocacy. The awardees–Janet Hinostroza (Teleamazonas, Ecuador), Bassem Youssef (Egypt), Nedim Şener (Posta, Turkey) and Nguyen Van Hai (Dieu Cay, Vietnam)–face severe reprisals…
A daughter’s plea for her father’s freedom in Vietnam
Next week, the Committee to Protect Journalists will be honoring four journalists from around the world at the International Press Freedom Awards, an annual recognition of courageous reporting. As the awardees from Ecuador, Egypt, and Turkey make the journey to attend the awards and benefit dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on November…
Vietnamese blogger jailed on tax evasion charges
Bangkok, October 4, 2013–Vietnamese blogger Le Quoc Quan was sentenced to prison on Wednesday for tax evasion, a charge that government authorities frequently use to stifle critical voices. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the appellate court to reverse the politically motivated ruling and urges Vietnamese authorities to end state persecution of Vietnam’s independent…
Obama must urge free press during meeting with Vietnam
Dear President Obama: We are writing to express our concern about the deteriorating press and Internet freedom situation in Vietnam ahead of your Thursday meeting with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang. We ask that in your discussions you insist on the progress of freedom of expression-related issues as a precondition for broadening Vietnam’s diplomatic, economic, and strategic relations with the United States.