Writers Tran Khue and Pham Que Duong sentenced
|
Writers Tran Khue and Pham Que Duong sentenced
| |
Writers Tran Khue and Pham Que Duong were both sentenced to
nineteen months' imprisonment in trials held
on July 9 and 14, 2004 respectively. The sentences include
time served, therefore both men are due for release on July 29, 2004.
According to PEN's information, writer Tran Khue was detained on
December 29, 2002 following a visit by Pham Que Duong
(see below) and other democracy activists. He had been under
heavy surveillance since September 2, 2001, when he and
Pham Que Duong had applied to register a group
called the 'National Association to Fight Corruption'.
Tran Que was placed under house arrest,
but refused to accept the terms of the
administrative detention order. He carried
on his dissident activities, resulting
in increased harassment by the authorities.
He was arrested on December 29, 2002 and is since
believed to have been held at Phan Dang
Luu Prison, Ho Chi Minh city.
On June 9, 2004 he was reportedly charged with
espionage and violating the house arrest order.
On July 9, 2004 he was acquitted of the
more serious charge of espionage, but
sentenced to nineteen months' imprisonment for abusing
democratic rights to infringe upon the interests of the
State and violating a house arrest order.
He is due for release on July 29, 2004.
Tran Khue is a former professor of Vietnamese and
Chinese literature and a prolific writer.
He founded the Centre for South-East Asian Culture in 1996. He
also established two on-line publications, 'Dialogue 2000' and
'Dialogue 2001', which included
articles by himself and others
on political topics. In January 2002
the authorities ordered all printed
copies of these publications to be destroyed.
Dissident writer Pham Que Duong, former colonel and army
historian, was also sentenced to nineteen months' imprisonment
in a trial held on July 14, 2004. He was arrested on
December 28, 2002 at Ho Chi Minh City train station while returning
to his home in Hanoi after a meeting with fellow cyber-dissident
Tran Khue. Pham Que Duong was reportedly charged on February 3, 2004
with espionage for having links
to foreign reactionary organisations, using the
Internet to receive and distribute documents hostile to
the communist regime, and working as a correspondent for a
Canadian magazine. The more serious charge of espionage
was dropped, but he was convicted of the lesser charges of
abusing democratic rights to infringe upon the interests of the
State. and violating a house arrest order. He is due to be released
on July 29, 2004.
International PEN welcomes the forthcoming release of writers
Tran Que and Pham Que Duong, but considers both men to have been
detained solely for the peaceful expression of
their opinions, and therefore in
contravention of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam is a signatory.
Recommended Actions
Please send appeals:
President, Socialist Republic of Vietnam C/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hanoi Socialist Republic of Vietnam Prime Minister Phan Van Khai 1 Hoang Hoa Tham Street Hanoi Socialist Republic of Vietnam Pham Quang Nghi Minister of Culture and Information 1 Hoang Hoa Tham Street Hanoi Socialist Republic of Vietnam Please note that there are no fax numbers available for the Vietnamese authorities, so you may wish to ask the diplomatic representative for Vietnam in your country to forward your appeals. It would also be advantageous to ask your country's diplomatic representatives in Vietnam to intervene in the case. For further information please contact Cathy McCann - WiPC Asia and Middle East Researcher
|