By Defend the Defenders, October 5, 2016
Vietnamese Minister Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan on Oct 4 gave reasons of the withdrawal of press card of an editor-in-chief and the three-month suspension of an electronic newspaper, one day after the ministry announced its decision on the disciplines.
One of the reasons is that PetroTimes news portal which Nguyen Nhu Phong was the editor-in-chief reposted an overseas interview with Vietnamese prominent blogger Bui Thanh Hieu (aka Nguoi Buon Gio) who is now in Germany under the support of the German government. Hieu has been writing a series of articles about unknown parts in Vietnam’s politics and his blog attracts a large number of audience.
On Sept 30, PetroTimes posted an article about Trinh Xuan Thanh who is sought internationally for his responsibilities in causing VND3.3 trillion ($148 million) losses in the state-owned PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC) during his chairmanship in the firm in the 2011-2013 period.
The entry was removed from the site shortly after it was posted.
Mr. Tuan said that Bui Thanh Hieu is one of extremists causing social disorder and publicizes pieces of writing that defame the state and senior officials. Therefore, the reposting of an interview with Hieu has disgraced the electronic newspaper and indirectly supported the hostile activities.
The minister said that the disciplines are resulted from wrongdoings of PetroTimes and the editor-in-chief, calling misdeeds are systematic. He noted that the news portal has derailed its focus on energy, oil, and gas to post entries slandering others’ dignity.
He concluded that the editor-in-chief needed to bear responsibilities for the derailment after being reminded for many times.
After the MIC announced its punishments to Mr. Phong and the news portal, public has triggered concerns about the controversial article relating to the prominent blogger.
Under Decision 1701 signed on Oct 3 by Minister Tuan, the MIC only said that the disciplines were resulted from “violating regulations in journalism” without giving specific wrongdoings.
The ministry said that the withdrawal is made after the 61-year-old editor-in-chief was sacked for violations.
The news portal will be suspended for three months starting Oct 3.
PetroTimes is under the management of the Vietnam Petroleum Association while Mr. Phong, who is a former police colonel, worked as a deputy editor-in-chief at the Ministry of Public Security’s mouthpiece Cong An Nhan Dan (People’s Police) newspaper before joining PetroTimes, a site covers a wide range of topics, in 2011.
In the past, PetroTimes had many articles attacking local dissidents, social activists and human rights violations with fabricated stories. The newspaper and its Editor-in-chief Phong were considered very loyal to the ruling party, particularly Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung who stepped down in July after failing to be re-elected to the party’s Central Committee in its 12th National Congress in late January.
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October 6, 2016
Vietnam Revokes Press Card of Editor-in-chief of PetroTimes
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
By Defend the Defenders, October 5, 2016
Vietnamese Minister Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan on Oct 4 gave reasons of the withdrawal of press card of an editor-in-chief and the three-month suspension of an electronic newspaper, one day after the ministry announced its decision on the disciplines.
One of the reasons is that PetroTimes news portal which Nguyen Nhu Phong was the editor-in-chief reposted an overseas interview with Vietnamese prominent blogger Bui Thanh Hieu (aka Nguoi Buon Gio) who is now in Germany under the support of the German government. Hieu has been writing a series of articles about unknown parts in Vietnam’s politics and his blog attracts a large number of audience.
On Sept 30, PetroTimes posted an article about Trinh Xuan Thanh who is sought internationally for his responsibilities in causing VND3.3 trillion ($148 million) losses in the state-owned PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC) during his chairmanship in the firm in the 2011-2013 period.
The entry was removed from the site shortly after it was posted.
Mr. Tuan said that Bui Thanh Hieu is one of extremists causing social disorder and publicizes pieces of writing that defame the state and senior officials. Therefore, the reposting of an interview with Hieu has disgraced the electronic newspaper and indirectly supported the hostile activities.
The minister said that the disciplines are resulted from wrongdoings of PetroTimes and the editor-in-chief, calling misdeeds are systematic. He noted that the news portal has derailed its focus on energy, oil, and gas to post entries slandering others’ dignity.
He concluded that the editor-in-chief needed to bear responsibilities for the derailment after being reminded for many times.
After the MIC announced its punishments to Mr. Phong and the news portal, public has triggered concerns about the controversial article relating to the prominent blogger.
Under Decision 1701 signed on Oct 3 by Minister Tuan, the MIC only said that the disciplines were resulted from “violating regulations in journalism” without giving specific wrongdoings.
The ministry said that the withdrawal is made after the 61-year-old editor-in-chief was sacked for violations.
The news portal will be suspended for three months starting Oct 3.
PetroTimes is under the management of the Vietnam Petroleum Association while Mr. Phong, who is a former police colonel, worked as a deputy editor-in-chief at the Ministry of Public Security’s mouthpiece Cong An Nhan Dan (People’s Police) newspaper before joining PetroTimes, a site covers a wide range of topics, in 2011.
In the past, PetroTimes had many articles attacking local dissidents, social activists and human rights violations with fabricated stories. The newspaper and its Editor-in-chief Phong were considered very loyal to the ruling party, particularly Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung who stepped down in July after failing to be re-elected to the party’s Central Committee in its 12th National Congress in late January.