Vietnam: Free Blogger ‘Mother Mushroom’

Update 6/29/2017: Vietnamese blogger and rights activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was sentenced to 10 years in jail on June 29, 2017, using the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa province. The baseless conviction and cruel sentencing mirror the Vietnamese authorities’ punitive suppression of peaceful activism and dissent, Human Rights Watch said. The sentence should be quashed, and Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh should be immediately launched.

“The Vietnamese government makes use of vague national protection legal guidelines to silence activists and throttle unfastened speech,” stated Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “International donors have not to watch silently as activists like Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh are jailed for a decade for protecting the human rights of all Vietnamese.”

Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, 38, who blogs under the pen called “Mother Mushroom” (Me Nam), was arrested in October 2016 and charged with “undertaking propaganda against the kingdom” under article 88 of the penal code, which has been regularly used to punish critics of the authorities and activists arbitrarily.

Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh wrote on social and political issues, law confiscation, police brutality, and freedom of expression. She acquired a Hellman-Hammett furnish from Human Rights Watch in 2010 as an author protecting free expression and became named the 2015 Civil Rights Defender of the Year by using Civil Rights Defenders. With the motto, “Who will speak in case you don’t?” Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh recommended the above, considering the surroundings loose from fear.

Vietnam’s donors and alternate companions should urgently call for the release of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, in addition to all others detained or imprisoned for peaceful activities and speech. They must press the Vietnamese government to amend the draconian legal guidelines used to punish peaceful dissent.

(New York) – Vietnam must immediately unfasten Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (also called “Mother Mushroom”) and drop all charges against her, Human Rights Watch said today. Police arrested her in October 2016 and pressed a charge of “undertaking propaganda against the nation” by article 88 of the penal code. The People’s Court of Khanh Hoa Province plans to pay attention to her case on June 29, 2017.

“It’s outrageous to put Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh on trial clearly for using her proper to unfastened expression to call for government reform and duty,” stated Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The scandal right here isn’t always what Mother Mushroom stated, but Hanoi’s cussed refusal to repeal draconian, rights-abusing legal guidelines that punish peaceful dissent and tarnish Vietnam’s global reputation.”

Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, 38, blogs under the pen name Mother Mushroom (Me Nam). She got the pen name from her 11-year-old antique daughter, whom she calls “Mushroom.”

With the motto, “Who will talk if you don’t?” Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh wrote on social and political problems such as land confiscation, police brutality, and freedom of expression. She voiced guidance for fellow dissidents and publicly campaigned to release many political prisoners, including Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Nguyen Ngoc Gia, Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, and Nguyen Huu Vinh (additionally referred to as Anh Ba Sam). Above all, she endorsed social and political surroundings free from fear. The morning before she becomes arrested, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh went with Nguyen Thi Nay, the mother of political prisoner Nguyen Huu Quoc Duy, to attempt to go to him in prison.

In September 2009, the police took Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh from her domestic in the middle of the night. They wondered about her blog posts criticizing government rules on China and its disputed claims to the Spratly and Paracel Islands. She was released after nine days; however, she remained under intrusive surveillance by police, who continued to strain her to close down her blog.

Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh participated in numerous public protests that endorsed human rights and a cleaner environment. She becomes subject to regular police harassment, intimidation, and interrogation and is placed under residence arrest on numerous occasions to save herself from attending vital occasions. Police detained her twice in 2014 to save her from flying to Hanoi to wait for conferences at the Australian Embassy in July and the Canadian and Norwegian Embassies in November. In March 2015, police detained her again to save her from going to Hanoi to attend a meeting at the German Embassy. In July 2015, she mentioned being assaulted by guys in civilian clothes in front of police officers for participating in a sit-down protest to a marketing campaign for the release of political prisoners.

State media reported that the police alleged that the proof against Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh for anti-nation running a blog protected a record named “Stop police killing civilians.” The record included information on 31 instances regarding folks who died in police custody, which she and others had collected from Kingdom media. The police claimed that the document “bears an adverse point of view against the human police force. The document makes the readers misunderstand the character of the hassle, offends and lowers the status of the people’s police force, and harms the connection among the humans and the police pressure.”

Many cases summarized in “Stop police killing civilians” were documented and published using Human Rights Watch, along with the violent deaths in police custody of Nguyen Quoc Bao, Nguyen Van Khuong, Trinh Xuan Tung, Tu Ngoc Thach, and Y Ket Bap. According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, reported using Kingdom media, from October 2011 to September 2014, there were 226 cases of dying in detention facilities.

The police claimed that in the quest for Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh’s residence, they discovered many documents presenting evidence of crimes. Among these documents had been slogans together with “Fish Need Water,” “The Country Needs Transparency” (Ca can not such; Nuoc can mine bach), “Take Legal Action Against Formosa” (Khoi to Formosa), “No Formosa,” “Formosa Get Out,” and anti-China claims over the disputed Spratly and Paracel Islands such as “No to Chinese Expansionism.”

The police report said that in addition to her Facebook and weblog posts, other “crimes” she devoted blanket giving interviews to CNN and Radio Free Asia.