Vietnam detains blogger for 'bad' content about the state
Vietnam detains blogger for 'bad' content
Reuters – 14 hours ago..
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese police have detained a
blogger for posting "bad content" about the state, the latest move in
a crackdown on dissent that has been condemned by rights groups and Western
governments.
Hong Le Tho, 65, was detained for "posting online
articles with bad content and false information that discredit and create distrust
among people about state agencies, social agencies and citizens," the
Ministry of Public Security said on Saturday on its website.
The case follows a sharp increase in arrests and prison
terms for government critics in the past few years that has alarmed the United
States, a former enemy that is struggling to build a case for deeper trade ties
with a country steadfast in its intolerance of dissent.
The detention of Tho, better known as blogger "Nguoi
Lot Gach", came a month after Vietnam released jailed blogger Nguyen Van
Hai, who staged a hunger strike to protest treatment of political prisoners.
It was unclear what Tho posted, as his blog requires an
invitation in order to access it.
The popularity of political blogs has grown with
increasing internet usage and simmering discontent over the Communist
government's handling of a stale economy and rampant graft.
The number of web users has soared to a third of
Vietnam's estimated 90 million people, and the Internet is one of only a few
channels for dissent in a country where protests are rare and the media is
tightly controlled by the state.
The United States has urged improvements in Vietnam's
human rights record.
In an address to Congress in June, the U.S. State
Department's envoy for democracy, Daniel Baer, described Vietnam's crackdown on
bloggers as part of "a years-long trend of deterioration".
(Editing by Rosalind Russell)
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