Vietnam re-arrests prominent writer
The Vietnamese government has arrested a
prominent writer, Nguyen Vu Binh, for the
second time in as many months, following a
search of his home in Hanoi, according to
rights groups.
The New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists said although the reasons for Mr
Nguyen's arrest on Wednesday were not made
public, it believed he was detained for an
essay he wrote criticising border agreements
between China and Vietnam.
Human rights groups
have said the
government's
treatment of Mr
Nguyen - who was
arrested briefly in late
July, and reportedly
subjected to frequent
interrogation sessions
since then - is part of
a growing campaign of
harassment of writers
and dissidents.
In a letter to
Vietnam's President, Tran Duc Luong, the CPJ
urged the government to respect press
freedoms.
Mr Nguyen has written several articles calling
for political reform, and the CPJ said that last
month he wrote an essay entitled Some
Thoughts on the China-Vietnam Border
Agreement, which was distributed over the
internet.
Controversial deal
The land pact, signed in December 1999, more
than 20 years after China and Vietnam fought
a bloody border war, has been roundly
criticised by many Vietnamese intellectuals
who accuse Hanoi of conceding too much to
its more powerful neighbour.
Mr Nguyen formerly worked on the Communist
Party's official journal.
He clashed with the authorities last year when
he left his job and tried to set up an opposition
party.
He was among a group of dissidents detained
last September in a crackdown which surprised
many observers given that it coincided with
the installation of a new Communist Party
chief, Nong Duc Manh, widely thought to have
some reformist credentials.
The CPJ also on Friday called for the release of
another writer, Le Chi Quang, who was
detained in February after writing an online
article criticising the land and sea border
agreements with China.
The group said that in August Mr Quang's
mother was informed that her son would "soon"
be tried on national security charges.
Despite Vietnam's constitutional guarantees of
a free press, in reality dissidents take
considerable risks if they speak out.
BBC News Service - September 27, 2002.
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