WUNRN
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2014/12/11/jailed-female-photo-journalist-on-hunger-strike-in-vietnam/
VIETNAM - WOMAN PHOTOJOURNALIST HARSH PRISON SENTENCE –
NOW HUNGER STRIKE – EXAMPLE OF RESTRICTED FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION FOR
JOURNALISTS, ACTIVISTS
By Nani Jansen* & Jonathan McCully* –Media Legal Defence Initiative
11 December 2014 -
Minh Man Dang Nguyen was arrested over three years ago for taking photographs
at a protest and sentenced to nine years in prison on subversion
charges. On 28 November, in protest of ill-treatment she has received
while in detention, she began a hunger strike.
Minh Man’s case
epitomises the current state of affairs in Vietnam, where authorities are
systematically restricting freedom of expression by arbitrarily detaining
journalists, bloggers and human rights activists.
Minh Man
On 9 January 2013,
the People’s Court of Nghe An Province convicted Minh Man alongside 13 other
bloggers and human rights activists of plotting to “overthrow” the Vietnamese
government, in what experts say was the “largest subversion case to be brought in [recent] years.”
Although trained
as a beautician, the 26-year-old is a passionate advocate for social
justice and human rights, which she exercised through her work as a freelance
photojournalist. Rather than attempting to work within Vietnam's rigid
state-run media environment, Minh Man published her photographs online. She
would often travel to places where there was civil unrest and public protest in
order to take photographs and garner publicity for the events. One such event
was the anti-China protests held in Ho Chi Minh City on 5 June 2011
Minh Man was
arrested on 31 July 2011 alongside her mother and brother. Their family home
was searched by police who confiscated Minh Man’s camera, which has not been
returned to her since.
Trial of Minh Man
Family on Trial
The trial took
place at the People’s Court of Nghe An Province, which has a long history of
imbalanced decision-making and lack of due process. Despite the fact that a
large number of defendants were standing trial, the trial itself only lasted
two days. Defendants were given only five minutes to address the judge, and
could only respond to questions with a “yes” or “no” answer. Several
independent journalists and international observers were denied access to the
proceedings. The court handed down a sentence of nine years imprisonment and
three months house arrest for Minh Man. Her mother was given a three-year
prison sentence, which is now complete. Her brother endured a suspended
sentence of three years.
The harsh
sentences of the People’s Court have not only had an effect on Minh Man, her
mother and her brother. Minh Man’s father on several occasions has been
subjected to coercion, undue pressure and surveillance by the Vietnamese
authorities following the arrest of his family. A local police officer even
went so far as to dissuade him from seeking legal support or representation for
Minh Man, and was ordered to say that his wife and daughter had gone to work in
Saigon if asked about the arrest.
Minh Man was
sentenced under Article 79(1) of the Criminal Code as an “active participant”
in committing “criminal activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s
administration” and therefore received a much higher penalty than many of her
co-defendants. She currently continues to serve her nine year prison sentence
in Camp No. 5, Yen Dinh, in Thanh Hoa Province. Conditions there are severe, and
she is made to perform arduous physical labour. On 16 November, Minh Man and
three other prisoners of conscience were placed in near-solitary confinement
for unknown reasons. On 28 November 2014, Minh Man went on hunger strike in
protest of this unfair treatment; she is being held in a cell with triple
concrete walls together with one other prisoner.
Law Students
Petition UN on Photographer's Behalf
Minh Man's hunger
strike and precarious health situation have increased the urgency of her
situation and drawn the attention of international advocates. Last week, a
student law clinic in Zagreb, Croatia filed a
petition to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) on behalf of
jailed photo journalist.
Trained in
international human rights doctrine by leading professors from Oxford
and Zagreb
Universities, the students researched, drafted and filed petitions on behalf of
a number of clients. Apart from Minh Man, petitions were also being drafted on
behalf of Vietnamese political blogger Dieu Cay, who was released on 21 October 2014,
and Myanmar editor Tin San. The Media Legal
Defence Initiative (MLDI), together with Garden
Court Chambers and Zagreb University, provided clinical legal
supervision to the students at every step of the process.
Despite the fact
that Vietnam recognises freedom of expression as a constitutional right, it has
consistently received negative press freedom ratings. Reporters
Without Borders, for example, has placed only six countries below
Vietnam in terms of press freedom. Unfortunately Minh Man’s case is yet another
example of the Vietnamese authorities suppressing free speech and dissent by
way of vaguely defined or fabricated offences. By filing a petition with the
UNWGAD, the law clinic in Zagreb hopes to raise awareness of Minh Man’s
position and hopefully achieve the positive outcome that has already been seen
this year in the Dieu Cay case.
*Authors
Nani Jansen is the Legal Director of the Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI), a global legal support organization that helps journalists, bloggers, and independent media outlets defend their rights by offering both financial assistance and substantive litigation support.
Jonathan McCully studied law at
Trinity College, Dublin (LL.B), and is a recent graduate of the London School
of Economics and Political Science (LL.M). He is a frequent contributor to Inforrm’s Blog, and is currently volunteering at the Media
Legal Defence Initiative.