PEN condemns the conviction of blogger and government critic Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, also known by her pen name Me Nam (‘Mother Mushroom’), on 29 June 2017.

Me Nam, who has been detained since her arrest in October 2016, was convicted of ‘conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’ under Article 88 of the Penal Code and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

PEN believes that Me Nam is being targeted for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of expression. We are therefore calling on the Vietnamese authorities to quash Me Nam’s conviction and release her immediately and unconditionally, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam is a state party.

For further background information, please visit the PEN International website.

TAKE ACTION

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Share details of Me Nam’s case with friends and colleagues and on social media #FreeMeNam

Write to the authorities

Please send appeals:

• Calling on the Vietnamese authorities to quash the conviction and 10-year sentence of blogger and human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh for ‘conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’ and release her immediately and unconditionally;
• Urging the authorities to repeal Article 88, as well as other national security provisions that criminalise dissent in breach international human rights law, such as Articles 79 (‘activities aiming to overthrow the people‚Äôs administration’) and 258 (‘abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state, the rights and interests of individuals’) of the Penal Code.
• Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all other writers and activists imprisoned or detained for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression in accordance with Article 19 of the ICCPR to which Vietnam is state party.

Appeals to:

His Excellency Tran Dai Quang
President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Hung Vuong street
Ba Dinh district
Ha Noi
Viet Nam

Mr Nguyen Xuan Phuc
Prime Minister
1 Hoang Hoa Tham street
Ba Dinh district
Ha Noi
Viet Nam
Fax: +84 80 44130/ +84 80 44940

Mr Pham Binh Minh
Minister of Foreign Affairs
1 Ton That Dam street
Ba Dinh district
Ha Noi
Viet Nam
Fax: +844 3823 1872
Email: bc.mfa@mofa.gov.vn

Please ask your country’s diplomatic representatives in Vietnam to intervene in the case. For some Vietnamese embassies in the world: http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Vietnam