Seven years in jail for web journalist

Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the seven-year sentence given to Nguyen Vu Binh, the Vietnamese cyber-dissident.

Mr Vu Binh was arrested in September 2002 after publishing articles online that criticised the 1999 China-Vietnam border agreement.

The three-hour trial took place in Hanoi on 31 December and no diplomats or journalists were permitted to attend. Mr Vu Binh was found guilt of espionage and sentenced to a seven-year jail sentence followed by three years' house arrest.

The group reports that within the next month, Mr Vu Binh plans to launch an appeal against the sentence in the hope of reducing the prison term.

"Mr Vu Binh has strong support from the international community, but within Vietnam the case has hardly been reported," said Julién Pain, RSF's spokesperson on cyber-liberties.

"Seven years is a long sentence, but is typically harsh. One other high profile Vietnamese cyber-dissident was recently sentenced to 13 years."

In September last year, RSF wrote to Vietnam's justice minister Uong Chu Luu to demand fair treatment for Mr Vu Binh, who had been held without trial in solitary confinement since his arrest.

The Vietnamese government denies that it detains political prisoners, stating that it only imprisons those who threaten national security and break the law.

For 10 years Mr Vu Binh wrote for the magazine supplement of Tap Chi Cong San, Vietnam's Communist Party newspaper. He resigned in 2001, and went on to publish many articles online which called for political reform.

He also wrote to the UN Human Rights Commission in July 2002, criticising the Vietnam's record on human rights.

In May 2003, the Vietnamese government introduced a new directive to increase its control over web publications. The measure made it forbidden for web users to receive or publish any 'anti-government' material.

China has a formidable team of 30,000 cyber-police monitoring and controlling access to the internet. Following the example of China, the Vietnamese government has reportedly established a computer research department dedicated to internet surveillance.

RSF report that the Vietnamese authorities are currently blocking access to around 2,000 web sites, and the group are lobbying European governments to ask them to withhold their substantial financial support for Vietnam.

"They must let the Vietnamese government know that they cannot continue to repress free speech on the internet," said Mr Pain.

See also:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=6491&Valider=OK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3358533.stm
http://www.internet.rsf.org
http://www.cpv.org.vn
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/patrick.guenin/cantho/vnnews/fanfare.htm

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