http://www.amnesty.org.uk/protect/action/vietnam.shtml

Free the cyber dissidents

Background

Nguyen Khac Toan, Dr Pham Hong Son and Nguyen Vu Binh are prisoners of conscience who have been detained solely for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of _expression and association in calling for democratic change and the protection of human rights.

All three men have been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment under broadly defined national security legislation that criminalizes peaceful political dissent.

Cases

Nguyen khac Toan

Nguyen Khac Toan,50 A former soldier, mathematics teacher and businessman,he was arrested on 8 January 2002 in Ha Noi and charged with "spying" under Article 80 of the Criminal Code.

In December 2002 he was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment plus three years’ house arrest on release.

Nguyen Khac Toan was arrested for passing information via the Internet to overseas Vietnamese activist groups about demonstrations and protests in Ha Noi by farmers, and assisting those farmers’ representatives to draft petitions to the government concerning official corruption and land confiscation.

His trial lasted less then a day and his lawyer had only been given very limited opportunity to speak alone with his client.

Dr Pham Hong Son

Dr Pham Hong Son, 37 A businessman and qualified medical doctor,he is married with two young children, and was arrested on 28 March 2002, and charged with "spying" under Article 80 of the Criminal Code.

On 18 June 2003 he was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment, plus three years’ house arrest on release.

Dr Pham Hong Son was arrested after he translated an article entitled "What is Democracy?" from the website of the US embassy in Viet Nam, and sent it to both friends and senior party officials.

An active Internet user,he distributed information he found on the web, and wrote an article entitled "Hopeful signs for democracy in Viet Nam" which he sent to government officials.

Accused of communicating via email with dissidents, his trial lasted only half a day.

There was strong international pressure, including requests from diplomats to attend his trial, but those who tried to enter the court were turned away by security officials.

Nonetheless, on appeal, his sentence was reduced to 5 years, possibly due to the intense international pressure on the authorities.

Nguyen Vu Binh

Nguyen Vu Binh,37 A journalist and writer, married with two young children, he was arrested in September 2002 and charged with "spying" under Article 80 of the Criminal Code.

On 31 December 2002 he was sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment, plus three years’ house arrest on release. His sentence was upheld on appeal.

In December 1999 Nguyen Vu Binh resigned his position as a journalist at the official Communist Party Viet Nam journal, Communist Review (Tap Chi Cong San), to set up an independent political party but received no response for official permission to do so.

With other dissidents and advocates of peaceful political reform, he attempted to form an Anti-Corruption Association in 2001.

He was briefly detained in July 2002 after submitting written testimony to the US Congress about the human rights situation in Viet Nam.

A month before his arrest, Nguyen Vu Binh criticized a controversial border treaty with China in an article entitled "Some Thoughts on the China-Vietnam Border Agreement" which was distributed via the Internet.

Charged with having "communicated via emails" with "reactionary" organisations overseas and disseminated information about human rights in Viet Name, Nguyen Vu Binh’s trial lasted only three hours.

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