Vietnam Prominent Blogger Released after Two Years in Jail

truong duy nhat

Mr. Nhat was punished for his “falsified” writings about the party’s senior members that are believed to ruin public trust in the party and state. The charge is based on nearly 1,000 postings including his 11 own stories and another signed by other name allegedly containing “inaccurate information of the party and state’s leaders in governance, violating laws.”

By KTT | May 27, 2015

Vietnamese prominent blogger Truong Duy Nhat has been released after completing a two-year imprisonment for “abusing rights to freedom and democracy to violate state interests” under the Penal Code.

The 50-year-old blogger came home Tuesday [May 26] from a prison in the central province of Nghe An, the state-run Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

Mr. Nhat was punished for his “falsified” writings about the party’s senior members that are believed to ruin public trust in the party and state. The charge is based on nearly 1,000 postings including his 11 own stories and another signed by other name allegedly containing “inaccurate information of the party and state’s leaders in governance, violating laws,”

The blogger used to work as a reporter of the state-run Dai Doan Ket newspaper for 16 years insisted that that he is guiltless and his entries represent a sense of responsibility rather than subversion.

Mr. Nhat was named among 100 information heroes (Infoheroes) worldwide for contributions to freedom of expression by the Reporteurs Sans Frontieres (RSF).

Lawyer Tran Vu Hai, who defended Nhat’s rights, said that the blogger’s last sentence at the court was that he was proud of his activities.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the communist country jailed at least 63 political activists in 2013, jumping 50% on year. Meanwhile, the Reporters Without Borders believed that Vietnam is detaining 34 bloggers in jail.