Hanoi has sentenced the pro-democracy activist to prison followed by house arrest. The 69-year-old is the latest in a slew of journalists to be jailed for disseminating "anti-state propaganda."
All independent media is banned in VietnamImage: Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP
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A court in Vietnam jailed former radio journalist turned pro-democracy activist for five and a half years in a closed-door trial Friday. The prison term is to be followed by five years of house arrest.
Pham Chi Thanh was found guilty of "making, storing, disseminating and propagandizing information, materials and products that aim to oppose the state of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," his lawyer Ha Huy Son said.
Who is Pham Chi Thanh?
Thanh formerly worked as an editor at Vietnam's state-run radio broadcaster Voice of Vietnam.
He became disillusioned with the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), saying it served to maintain dictatorship. The 69-year-old left the party after 41 years of membership and began voicing pro-democracy sentiments.
The state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA) quoted the court's claim that Thanh had "distorted information that caused social concern" on his Facebook page as well as given interviews to foreign media outlets.
His lawyer said Thanh "rejected the indictment, saying [in court] he did not break the law."
Where freedom of the press doesn't exist
Many states routinely attack and intimidate journalists and bloggers to keep them in check. In its 2015 press freedom index, Reporters Without Borders ranks the performance of 180 countries. These states come in last.
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Africa's very own North Korea: Eritrea
Eritrea ranks second-last in the World Press Freedom Index. Reports from the disastrous state of affairs in Eritrea are rare, and many journalists have been forced to leave the country. Radio Erena is the only one to broadcast independent information to the people of Eritrea — from Paris.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Juinen
Dictated by the dictator
Press freedom is also non-existent in North Korea. Sealed off from the rest of the world, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un keeps a check on what the media publish. State TV and radio are available, nothing more. People who express their opinions vanish in political prison camps — along with their entire families.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Yonhap/Kcna
Keeping tabs in Turkmenistan
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov owns almost all of the country's media corporations. The newspaper Rysgal is the only exception, and even here, every edition needs state approval before it can go to press. A new law against media monopolies gives the people of Turkmenistan access to foreign news, but the government still keeps tabs on the Internet, and blocks most websites.
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Culling the critics
Independent media do not exist in Vietnam. The ruling Communist Party tells journalists what to publish. For the most part, publishers, editors and the reporters themselves are party members. Authorities have recently taken a greater interest in bloggers who challenge the authoritarian Communist Party's opinion monopoly - and try to silence them by sending them to jail.
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China's non-freedom
China, Reporters Without Borders says, is the world's biggest prison for bloggers and journalists. The authoritarian regime takes massive steps against unwelcome news coverage; pressure on foreign reporters is also on the rise. Entire regions are taboo to them, their work is closely monitored and Chinese assistants or interview partners can quite simply be imprisoned.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Schiefelbein
Under fire in Syria
Many journalists have been persecuted and killed since the uprising against Bashar al-Assad, whom Reporters Without Borders has ranked as an enemy of press freedom for years. The al-Nusra front, which fights against Assad, and the Islamic State group in turn attack Syrian state media reporters, kidnapping or publicly executing the journalists and correspondents.
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What rights groups say about the sentencing
Daniel Bastard of press watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Thanh's sentencing "speaks volumes about Vietnamese authorities' gross disregard for the rule of law and the country's constitution."
Not only did Thanh voice his opinions online — in 2019 he also published a book critical of CPV leader Nguyen Phu Trong, saying, among other things, that the politician was too cozy with China.
"Pham Chi Thanh is among a long list of Vietnamese dissidents prosecuted for nothing more than their written words," said John Sifton, Asia director of the NGO Human Rights Watch.
Last month Vietnamese police also arrested 51-year-old Le Van Dung on the same charges as Thanh. A freelancer, Dung posted live Facebook and Youtube reports in which he discussed the state of Vietnam's socio-economic and political situation — including relations with China.
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The absence of independent media in Vietnam
State media outlets have reported on the recent arrests of at least four freelance journalists for "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state."
The country's hard-line government regularly detains social media users for posting "anti-state" content, especially those who attract larger audiences. Vietnam has been harshly criticized by international human rights groups for its intolerance of dissent.
In the 2020 edition of RSF's annual World Press Freedom Index, Vietnam, which has banned all independent media outlets, ranked 175th out of 180 countries.
