Vietnam among World’s Five Worst Enemies of Freedom: German Bild

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The issues of democracy and reforms are taboo in the one-party country, the newspaper noted.
Currently, more than 30 bloggers and two journalists have been imprisoned under the allegations of abusing democracy and freedom, the newspaper said, adding that the communist government has used controversial articles such as Article 79, 88 and 258 to silence local dissent.
By Vu Quoc Ngu | May 05, 2015

Vietnam has been listed by Germany’s Bild news agency as one of the world’s five worst enemies of freedom due to its violations of free expression and free press.

On the occasion of the International Press Freedom Day [May 3], the German newspaper ranked the world’s freedom basing on documentation from the Reporter Without Borders (RSF), and placed Laos, Somalia, Iran, Sudan, Vietnam, China, Syria, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea as the worst countries in these criteria.

The freedom of expression and freedom of press are enshrined in Vietnam’s 2013 Constitution, however, the communist government has not tolerated criticism, especially in corruption, economic mismanagement and the government’s weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty, the Bild said.

The issues of democracy and reforms are taboo in the one-party country, the newspaper noted.

Currently, more than 30 bloggers and two journalists have been imprisoned under the allegations of abusing democracy and freedom, the newspaper said, adding that the communist government has used controversial articles such as Article 79, 88 and 258 to silence local dissent.

In the world stage, violations of freedom of press are very serious. As many as 334 journalists and online activists have been jailed and 24 other were killed in 2014, according to the RSF.

Freedom of press is a valuable asset to German people. According to a recent poll of Emnid, 89% of German said freedom of press is important or very important.