Rights group condemns jailing of Vietnam critic
HANOI - A Paris-based
media rights group has condemned a
four-year jail sentence imposed on a
Vietnamese man who published
criticisms of Vietnam's border pact
with China on the Internet.
On Friday, a Hanoi People's Court
official told Reuters Le Chi Quang, 32, was found guilty of
"propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" after a
one-day trial and would be jailed for four years.
Quang was given another three years probation in addition to
the jail term. Foreign media representatives were not allowed
to attend the trial.
A statement received by Reuters on Saturday from the
Reporters Without Borders group appealed for Quang to be
freed, saying he is sick.
"Even if your government persists in abusing the basic rights
of its citizens, we appeal to you to free Le Chi Quang
because he is seriously ill," the group's general-secretary
Robert Menard urged in a letter to Vietnam Justice Minister
Uong Chu Luu.
The statement from the rights group said Quang "appeared to
be in a very weak state" with a swollen face during the trial,
and that his family said he had kidney problems "that prison
officials had refused to treat".
Quang, whom rights groups say is a computer teacher with a
law degree, upset authorities this year when he put a letter
to China's President Jiang Zemin, titled "Beware of the
Northern Empire", on the Internet.
The letter covered border pacts with China, Reporters Sans
Frontiers has said.
Last month, Hanoi called Quang's articles anti-government
propaganda. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Quang was
"caught red-handed" on February 21 while "illegally uploading
the information".
Vietnam and China have been bickering over their 1,350-km
border for decades and dissidents have accused Vietnam of
giving up too much land to China. The neighbours signed
agreements on their border in 1999 and 2000.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, which is based in New
York, said Quang was arrested after officials at a popular
domestic Internet service provider told authorities he used an
Internet cafe in Hanoi to talk to "reactionaries" overseas.
Vietnam has been cracking down on Internet cafes, saying it
wants to root out pornography and anti-government material,
and has ordered cafe operators to keep tabs on customers.
Hanoi accuses Quang of writing Internet articles "to distort
the situation in Vietnam, slandering the Vietnam Communist
Party, the state of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and
undermining the national and religious unity".
Human rights groups say at least four Vietnamese have been
detained for publishing criticism of the government on the
Internet.
Reuters - November 9, 2002.
Le Chi Quang sentenced to four years in jail
HANOI - The Ha Noi People's Court sentenced Le Chi Quang to four-year imprisonment on Friday for "propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam".
He was also given another three-years probation in his residential area after completing his four-year jail term, the court announced.
Quang was caught red-handed on February 21 while posting documents with content against the Vietnamese state on the Internet, according to the court.
Investigators seized self-made documents with their contents distorting the Party and government's guidelines and policies when they searched Quang's home.
These documents were written by Quang and distributed from April 2001 to February 21, 2002 when he was arrested, the court said, adding that Quang pleaded guilty in the dock.
Le Chi Quang, born in 1970, is an unemployed resident of Trung Liet ward, Dong Da inner district of Ha Noi.
He was convicted for his "propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam" stated in Item 1, Article 88 of Viet Nam's Criminal Code.
Vietnam News Agency - November 8, 2002.
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