Vietnam Human Rights Defenders Weekly May 8-14: Vietnam Officially Issues Arrest Warrant for HRD Bach Hong Quyen

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By Defend the Defenders, May 14, 2017

On 12 May, the police in Vietnam’s central province of Ha Tinh officially issued an arrest warrant against human rights defender and environmental activist Bach Hong Quyen, accusing him of “causing public disorder” under Article 245 of the country’s Penal Code.

Quyen is among many Vietnamese activists who have been harassed by Vietnam’s authorities for covering the April 2016 Formosa toxic waste spill, which caused massive deaths of fish and left fishermen jobless in four coastal provinces, or for their involvement in ongoing protests against the company.

Police in the northern province of Ha Nam said they completed an investigation on human rights activist Tran Thi Nga, who was arrested on January 21 and charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Vietnam’s Penal Code. The investigation report was sent to the province’s Procuracy and her trial is due to be held soon.

As many as 19 Catholic priests in Thuan Nghia and Vang Mai parishes in the central province of Nghe An have issued a joint statement protesting the ongoing campaign of the province’s authorities against priests Dang Huu Nam and Nguyen Dinh Thuc. In their joint statement, the priests expressed their sympathy to Fathers Nam and Thuc and condemned a range of acts committed by the local authorities, including organizing public demonstrations in which participants were paid to hold banners requesting prosecution of the two priests and publicizing news with false information about the religious clerks.

And other news

For details: https://www.vietnamhumanrightsdefenders.net/2017/05/15/vietnam-human-rights-defenders-weekly-may-8-14-vietnam-officially-issues-arrest-warrant-for-hrd-bach-hong-quyen/

For reports in previous weeks: https://www.vietnamhumanrightsdefenders.net/defenders-weekly/