PEN calls on the Vietnamese authorities to drop all charges against blogger and government critic Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, also known by her pen name Me Nam (‘Mother Mushroom’), ahead of her trial, which is expected to take place on 29 June 2017.
Me Nam has been held in incommunicado detention since her arrest in October 2016, on charges of ‘conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’ under Article 88 of the Penal Code. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.
PEN believes that Me Nam is being targeted for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of expression and calls for her immediate and unconditional release.
For further background information, please visit the PEN International website.
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Share details of Me Nam’s case with friends and colleagues and on social media #FreeMeNam
Write to the Vietnamese authorities
Please send appeals:
- Calling on the Vietnamese authorities to drop the charges against blogger and human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, and release her immediately and unconditionally;
- Ensuring that, pending her release, she is granted access to her family and a lawyer of her choice immediately;
- 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’s 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: [email protected]
Please ask your country’s diplomatic representatives in Viet Nam to intervene in the case. For some Vietnamese embassies in the world: http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Vietnam