Hanoi Expects to Free Prisoners Ahead Anniversary
HANOI - Vietnam is expected to free more than 10,000 prisoners in an amnesty
to mark the 55th anniversary of the country's independence declaration on September 2,
official media reported.
The Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Rural Today) newspaper said a list of prisoners to be
considered for the amnesty had been submitted to President Tran Duc Luong for approval.
It was not clear whether anyone on the list was among those considered political or
religious prisoners by Western states.
"All prisoners, despite of their charges and nationalities, if meet the requirements and
conditions, will be considered for amnesty," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy
Thanh said in a statement late on Friday.
She did not specify how many prisoners would be freed or if any foreigners were among
them, but she added Vietnam was still working on the release of the jailed mother of a
Vietnamese-Canadian woman, Nguyen Thi Hiep, who was executed for drug trafficking.
"Vietnam is considering positively the amnesty for Tran Thi Cam based on the spirit of
humanitarianism and Vietnamese law," she said.
Canada expressed outrage at Hiep's execution last April, saying Hanoi had went back on
promises to look at evidence which Ottawa said cast doubt on the conviction. Tran Thi
Cam was arrested with her daughter and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996.
Vietnam freed 12,264 prisoners, including 29 foreigners, in an amnesty to mark the 25th
anniversary of the end of Vietnam War on April 30.
More than 1,800 prisoners were freed last year and 4,316 had their sentences reduced.
A number of political dissidents and Buddhist monks have been freed in the past couple of
years. However, several of them have since complained of regular harassment by local
authorities.
International human right groups and some foreign governments say Vietnam imprisons
people for peaceful expression of political or religious views, a charge Hanoi rejects, saying
all those in jails are common criminals.
Reuters - August 26, 2000.
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