Statement No. 2 of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Viet Nam (IJAVN) concerning the expulsion of Nguyen Van Hai

nguyen van hai 10

IJAVN | Oct 23, 2014

On 10/21/2014, the government of Vietnam released the prisoner of conscience Nguyen VanHai (alias Dieu Cay) from prison, but he has been forced to go abroad without meeting with his family.

Nguyen Van Hai is a founding member of the “Free Journalists Club” which started inSeptember 2007. In 2008, he joined protests against the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics torch relay through Vietnam.

Nguyen Van Hai was arrested on 4/20/2008 and sentenced to 30 months in prison for tax evasion. However, after the prison term, he was not released but continued to be sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of propaganda against the state.

Nguyen Van Hai is a passionately patriotic activist a staunch prisoner. He had never signed anydocuments imposed on him by the investigating agency; nor did he ever plead guilty. In prison,he maintained the spirit of struggle, protested against the harsh prison regime, and extended help to his fellow prisoners. That was why he was placed in solitary confinement.

The release of Nguyen Van Hai is not under any conditions stipulated in the Law on Amnesty,nor does it stem from any humanitarian policy of Vietnam. This is the conditional agreementbetween Vietnam and the United States as part of their diplomatic negotiations. Nguyen Van Hai is not the first of these cases.

The premature release of Nguyen Van Hai coupled with his forced expulsion from the country means in actual fact that the government of Vietnam has deported him from Vietnam.

In consideration of the above-mentioned reasons, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Viet Nam hereby states that:

1. IJAVN would like to send its warmest greetings and welcome to Nguyen Van Hai on the occasion of his release. We strongly support his valiance in the struggle for freedom of the press, for territorial integrity of the country, against the Chinese Communist authorities in their plot and deeds to annex Viet Nam.

2. IJAVN affirms that the deportation of Nguyen Van Hai has violated Clause 2, Article 17 of theConstitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: “Vietnam citizens can not be deported and handed over to another state.” Therefore, the government of Vietnam must allow Mr Nguyen Van Hai to return to his home country if and when he so wishes.

3. IJAVN disapproves the Vietnamese government’s making use of political prisoners in theirnegotiations with other countries, especially with major powers.

4. IJAVN expresses its utmost concern for the fate of journalists and writers as well as other people fighting for democracy, human rights, and sovereignty of the country who until now are still free, believing that they might very well be the next victims when the authorities need to usethem in negotiations with other countries for their own selfish political and economic gains.

[Signed in Saigon], October 24, 2014

The Board of Chairs,

Independent Journalists’ Association of Viet Nam