Nguyen Quang Lap is seen as a mainstream figure in Vietnamese literature
aljazeera.com | Dec 07, 2014
Vietnamese police have detained a prominent blogger for posting anti-state articles, the second such arrest this month as the country’s communist authorities keep up their long-running crackdown on online dissent.
Commentator Nguyen Quang Lap was arrested at his house in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday afternoon, his wife told AFP news agency.
“More than a dozen security people searched our residence for several hours and took him away,” Ho Thi Hong said.
“They said his blog ran articles against the [communist] party’s policies and guidelines,” she added.
Lap, 58, a member of the official Vietnam Writers’ Association, is a well known figure in the southeast Asian nation. His blog has received millions of hits and his Facebook account has nearly 15,000 followers.
His website hosted his own writing and pieces by others, some of which often made critical points about social and political issues in Vietnam.
Many of the posts were strongly anti-China, reflecting widespread animosity among many Vietnamese, including intellectuals, for the country’s northern neighbour.
Hanoi and Beijing are currently locked in a long-standing territorial dispute over fishing rights and island chains in the South China Sea.
Dissent intolerance
Vietnam’s authoritarian rulers are sensitive to any criticism of their handling of the dispute, and have routinely broken up anti-China demonstrations and arrested organisers.
Vietnam bans private media while all newspapers and television channels are state-run.
This has fed an increasing popularity of political blogs, in tandem with growing internet usage in the country. The one-party state is regularly denounced by rights groups and western governments for its intolerance of political dissent.
Lap’s arrest is the second time a prominent blogger has been arrested this month.
Last Saturday police in Ho Chi Minh took 65-year-old blogger Hong Le Tho into custody on similar charges of posting “bad content” against the state.
One well-known blogger, Anh Ba Sam, is currently in detention awaiting trial, while anti-China activist Bui Thi Minh Hang is awaiting an appeal hearing to challenge a three-year prison term handed out in August this year.
In October, Vietnam released jailed blogger Nguyen Van Hai, who staged a hunger strike to protest against the treatment of political prisoners.
According to Reporters Without Borders, Vietnam is currently holding at least 34 bloggers in prison.
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December 8, 2014
Vietnam detains blogger for anti-state posts
by Nhan Quyen • Bui Thi Minh Hang, Hong Le Tho (Nguoi Lot Gach), Nguyen Huu Vinh (Anh Ba Sam), Nguyen Quang Lap (Que Choa)
Nguyen Quang Lap is seen as a mainstream figure in Vietnamese literature
Vietnamese police have detained a prominent blogger for posting anti-state articles, the second such arrest this month as the country’s communist authorities keep up their long-running crackdown on online dissent. Commentator Nguyen Quang Lap was arrested at his house in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday afternoon, his wife told AFP news agency. “More than a dozen security people searched our residence for several hours and took him away,” Ho Thi Hong said.
aljazeera.com | Dec 07, 2014
Vietnamese police have detained a prominent blogger for posting anti-state articles, the second such arrest this month as the country’s communist authorities keep up their long-running crackdown on online dissent.
Commentator Nguyen Quang Lap was arrested at his house in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday afternoon, his wife told AFP news agency.
“More than a dozen security people searched our residence for several hours and took him away,” Ho Thi Hong said.
“They said his blog ran articles against the [communist] party’s policies and guidelines,” she added.
Lap, 58, a member of the official Vietnam Writers’ Association, is a well known figure in the southeast Asian nation. His blog has received millions of hits and his Facebook account has nearly 15,000 followers.
His website hosted his own writing and pieces by others, some of which often made critical points about social and political issues in Vietnam.
Many of the posts were strongly anti-China, reflecting widespread animosity among many Vietnamese, including intellectuals, for the country’s northern neighbour.
Hanoi and Beijing are currently locked in a long-standing territorial dispute over fishing rights and island chains in the South China Sea.
Dissent intolerance
Vietnam’s authoritarian rulers are sensitive to any criticism of their handling of the dispute, and have routinely broken up anti-China demonstrations and arrested organisers.
Vietnam bans private media while all newspapers and television channels are state-run.
This has fed an increasing popularity of political blogs, in tandem with growing internet usage in the country. The one-party state is regularly denounced by rights groups and western governments for its intolerance of political dissent.
Lap’s arrest is the second time a prominent blogger has been arrested this month.
Last Saturday police in Ho Chi Minh took 65-year-old blogger Hong Le Tho into custody on similar charges of posting “bad content” against the state.
One well-known blogger, Anh Ba Sam, is currently in detention awaiting trial, while anti-China activist Bui Thi Minh Hang is awaiting an appeal hearing to challenge a three-year prison term handed out in August this year.
In October, Vietnam released jailed blogger Nguyen Van Hai, who staged a hunger strike to protest against the treatment of political prisoners.
According to Reporters Without Borders, Vietnam is currently holding at least 34 bloggers in prison.