Thursday, September 29, 2005
What is Democracy? Download this Article and go to Prison
Free Speech Issues Still Problematic For Vietnam
China is by no means the only Asian nation that is trying repress freedom of expression in cyberspace. The Washington Post reports that Pham Hong Son was sent to prison for three and a half years for the crime of
The internet and the news medi will also spread the news of his incarceration, exposing the repressive policies of the Vietnamese government and hopefully creating a demand for his release.
China is by no means the only Asian nation that is trying repress freedom of expression in cyberspace. The Washington Post reports that Pham Hong Son was sent to prison for three and a half years for the crime of
downloading an essay titled "What is Democracy?" from a U.S. State Department Web site, translating it and sending it to friends and senior Communist Party officials.
Son made the mistake of sending his translation to party officials not realizing the gravity of that error. If Son had translated this article and passed it around to his friends he would probably not have come to the attention of the 'special police' His visibility on the internet made him a target for arrest.
Son also showed the translation to his wife, an administrative assistant for a nongovernmental organization. She liked the piece. Though she realized that the topic was "sensitive," she said, "at that time, I didn't know that it would be dangerous to my husband and my family. I think people have a right to do personal research. I don't understand why he had to be arrested."
Son also translated and sent to friends and officials an essay he wrote in French titled "Encouraging Signs of Democracy." Neither essay advocated violence, Vu Thuy Ha said. "He was trying to propose steps to improve democracy in Vietnam," she said.
On March 25, 2002, soon after Son sent the second essay, a special police unit came to their house, Ha said. The police seized Son's computer and personal papers and took him for questioning. Son published an open letter on the Internet protesting the search and confiscation of his belongings.
The internet and the news medi will also spread the news of his incarceration, exposing the repressive policies of the Vietnamese government and hopefully creating a demand for his release.
