Vietnam: Two writers released on amnesty, one remains imprisoned

Father Nguyen Van Ly at Vietnam’s Kangaroo Court on 30 March 2007. Photo from youtube.com

Father Nguyen Van Ly at Vietnam’s Kangaroo Court on 30 March 2007. Photo from youtube.com

Artsfreedom | March 27, 2014

PEN International reported that the two writers and activists Dinh Dang Dinh and Nguyen Huu Cau were released under an amnesty, while poet, essayist and scholar Nguyen Van Ly remains imprisoned

Writer and activist Nguyen Huu Cau and blogger and environmental activist Dinh Dang Dinh were released from prison on 21 March 2014 under an amnesty. Poet, essayist, scholar and Catholic priest Father Nguyen Van Ly continues to serve an eight-year prison sentence and is seriously ill.

PEN continues to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those currently imprisoned for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Vietnam is a state party.

» PEN America – 26 March 2014:
Writers and Activists Dinh Dang Dinh and Nguyen Huu Cau Released Under an Amnesty, Nguyen Van Ly Remains Imprisoned
For more information on their cases see:

» PEN International – 7 March 2014:
Vietnam: Mounting concerns for the health of writers and activists Dinh Dang Dinh, Nguyen Van Ly and Nguyen Huu Cau
PEN International is gravely concerned for the health of blogger Dinh Dang Dinh, who is suffering from end-stage stomach cancer and was transferred to hospital on 15 February 2014. PEN is also seriously concerned for the health of poet, essayist, scholar and Catholic Priest Father Nguyen Van Ly, and writer and activist Nguyen Huu Cau.