Vietnam dissident vows to carry on struggle after prison
22 mins ago
HANOI (AFP) – A Vietnamese lawyer and dissident vowed on Wednesday to carry on her struggle for democracy days after leaving jail, where she spent three years for challenging the Communist authorities.
Le Thi Cong Nhan, 30, told AFP she would not let up in her campaign for democracy despite already having been called in by police for breaking the terms of her house arrest since leaving prison on Saturday.
Speaking by telephone, she said prison had strengthened her "faith in the struggle".
"I struggled for democracy and human rights, and I will continue to struggle for democracy and human rights," she said.
Officially stripped of her status as a lawyer, Nhan was arrested in March 2007 with a colleague, Nguyen Van Dai, who is still serving a four-year prison term.
Analysts say Vietnam's authorities have clamped down on dissent in the last three years after the country hosted a summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) and joined the World Trade Organisation in early 2007.
Both lawyers were convicted for writing documents criticising the authorities, denigrating the regime in the foreign media and using the law classes they taught to advocate human rights.
Nhan admitted at her trial being a member of a banned political party, the Vietnam Progression Party, and of a pro-democracy movement, Block 8406, which called for a boycott of sham parliamentary elections.
But she denied having violated the law. She insists that while the Communist Party's leading role in the country is enshrined in the constitution, "no provision in the law forbids the foundation of a party in Vietnam."
Nhan was unable to go ahead with a face-to-face interview with AFP scheduled around the time when she was called in by police on Tuesday.
She said police reprimanded her for going shopping too far from her home, but she thought the reprimand was actually linked to the planned interview.
Some observers see a link between heightened repression in Vietnam and next year's Communist Party Congress, at which high-ranking leadership posts will be apportioned.
At least 16 militants have been jailed since last October, including another lawyer, Le Cong Dinh, and a young French-trained Internet blogger, Nguyen Tien Trung.
22 mins ago
HANOI (AFP) – A Vietnamese lawyer and dissident vowed on Wednesday to carry on her struggle for democracy days after leaving jail, where she spent three years for challenging the Communist authorities.
Le Thi Cong Nhan, 30, told AFP she would not let up in her campaign for democracy despite already having been called in by police for breaking the terms of her house arrest since leaving prison on Saturday.
Speaking by telephone, she said prison had strengthened her "faith in the struggle".
"I struggled for democracy and human rights, and I will continue to struggle for democracy and human rights," she said.
Officially stripped of her status as a lawyer, Nhan was arrested in March 2007 with a colleague, Nguyen Van Dai, who is still serving a four-year prison term.
Analysts say Vietnam's authorities have clamped down on dissent in the last three years after the country hosted a summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) and joined the World Trade Organisation in early 2007.
Both lawyers were convicted for writing documents criticising the authorities, denigrating the regime in the foreign media and using the law classes they taught to advocate human rights.
Nhan admitted at her trial being a member of a banned political party, the Vietnam Progression Party, and of a pro-democracy movement, Block 8406, which called for a boycott of sham parliamentary elections.
But she denied having violated the law. She insists that while the Communist Party's leading role in the country is enshrined in the constitution, "no provision in the law forbids the foundation of a party in Vietnam."
Nhan was unable to go ahead with a face-to-face interview with AFP scheduled around the time when she was called in by police on Tuesday.
She said police reprimanded her for going shopping too far from her home, but she thought the reprimand was actually linked to the planned interview.
Some observers see a link between heightened repression in Vietnam and next year's Communist Party Congress, at which high-ranking leadership posts will be apportioned.
At least 16 militants have been jailed since last October, including another lawyer, Le Cong Dinh, and a young French-trained Internet blogger, Nguyen Tien Trung.
