Worrisome Arrest of Vietnamese Freelance Journalist Pham Chi Dung

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) strongly condemns the arrest of this staunch defender of press freedom, who has been working for several years to strengthen an open and informed civil society, beyond the propaganda of the country. Vietnamese Communist Party (PCV).

RSF had made it one of his “heroes of information” five years ago. Independent journalist Pham Chi Dung saw the police arrive at his home in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday, Thursday, November 21, who notified him of the accusation of “propaganda against the state”, to use the expression catches – all enshrined in Article 117 of the Vietnamese Penal Code.

According to the prosecution, he is expected to spend the next four months in detention while the police “investigate”. He faces 12 years in prison.

“The arrest of Pham Chi Dung is yet another confirmation of the Vietnamese authorities’ total intolerance of any information that does not stem from his own propaganda apparatus ,” said Daniel Bastard, RSF Asia-Pacific Desk Officer. We demand the immediate release of the journalist.

At a time when Vietnam wants to conclude trade agreements with the European Union and defense agreements with the United States, RSF calls Brussels and Washington to freeze any progress in this area as long as this scorn of Hanoi for the freedom of press.” 

Knowledgeable party arcana

Pham Chi Dung is particularly famous for being the president of the Association of Independent Journalists of Vietnam (IJAVN) , which is why he has had his passport confiscated. 

Former army officer, former PCV member, Pham Chi Dung returned his card to develop a critical thinking of power.

Became a connoisseur of the secrets of the Central Committee and his power struggles, he published on the site Nguoi Viet , November 17, an article in which he wondered about the fate of the current president and secretary general of the Party , Nguyen Phu Trong: Rumors about his failing health suggest he will not be able to stay in power until the next National Party Congress, scheduled for 2021 – so that struggles between different clans of the Party may be exacerbated in the coming year.

The publication of this analysis could explain the temporality of the arrest of Pham Chi Dung, and why the Vietnamese authorities wanted to silence a disturbing voice precisely now.

Vietnam stagnates in the abysses of RSF’s World Press Freedom Index in 2019, ranking 176th out of 180 countries.

Copyright ©2016, Reporters Without Borders. Used with the permission of Reporters Without Borders, CS 90247 75083 Paris Cedex 02 https://rsf.org

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