The U.S. government wants more political prisoners in Vietnam released after authorities there freed “Mother Mushroom,” a prominent dissident, following Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’s visit this week.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a 39-year-old blogger best known as Mother Mushroom because of her daughter’s nickname, was freed early Wednesday and arrived in the U.S. later the same day with her mother and children, the U.S. Embassy said. Embassy spokeswoman Karen Tang said Ms. Quynh and her family clearly stated to American officials in prior conversations that she wished to go to the U.S. if she were released.
Washington has pushed hard to get Ms. Quynh freed. She was arguably the most prominent government critic to be jailed in recent years, and was well known in Vietnam for campaigning on human rights and environmental issues—particularly a toxic spill that wiped out sea life along a large section of coastline in 2016.
In 2016, people protested in Hanoi about mass fish deaths in Vietnam’s central province. They hold a large banner reading ‘who poisoned Vietnam’s center coast?’ PHOTO: LUONG THAI LINH/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
She was arrested in October in 2016 and subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison for defaming the Vietnam’s communist government. At one point, Ms. Quynh’s 11-year-old daughter wrote to first lady Melania Trump to help secure her mother’s release ahead of President Trump’s visit to Vietnam for an economic summit last year.
It is unclear whether Ms. Quynh’s release was linked to Mr. Mattis’s visit, during which he toured a site contaminated by the Agent Orange dioxin during the Vietnam War. The U.S. will fund a cleanup effort, beginning next year, which is designed to improve relations between the two wartime foes and counter China’s growing influence in the region.
U.S. officials are now calling on Vietnam’s government to release more political prisoners. It wants the country to “allow all Vietnamese citizens to express their views without fear of retribution,” Ms. Tang said.
Vietnamese officials didn’t respond to requests for comment on Ms. Quynh’s release.
Vietnam launched a sweeping crackdown on dissent in 2016, driven in part by authorities’ concern about the way Facebook might be used to stir up antigovernment protests.
More than 100 prisoners of conscience remain in Vietnamese prisons, often in grim conditions, according to Amnesty International.
That number grew Wednesday when another activist was sentenced to seven years in prison after a one-day trial. Prosecutors accused 27-year-old Nguyen Dinh Thanh of spreading propaganda against the state by distributing leaflets calling on factory workers to join protests against proposals to sell land to foreign businesses.
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October 19, 2018
Free More Dissidents, U.S. Asks Vietnam, After ‘Mother Mushroom’ Is Released
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
Vietnam launched a crackdown on dissent in 2016, partly driven by concern about the way Facebook might be used to stir up protests
The U.S. government wants more political prisoners in Vietnam released after authorities there freed “Mother Mushroom,” a prominent dissident, following Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’s visit this week.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a 39-year-old blogger best known as Mother Mushroom because of her daughter’s nickname, was freed early Wednesday and arrived in the U.S. later the same day with her mother and children, the U.S. Embassy said. Embassy spokeswoman Karen Tang said Ms. Quynh and her family clearly stated to American officials in prior conversations that she wished to go to the U.S. if she were released.
Washington has pushed hard to get Ms. Quynh freed. She was arguably the most prominent government critic to be jailed in recent years, and was well known in Vietnam for campaigning on human rights and environmental issues—particularly a toxic spill that wiped out sea life along a large section of coastline in 2016.
She was arrested in October in 2016 and subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison for defaming the Vietnam’s communist government. At one point, Ms. Quynh’s 11-year-old daughter wrote to first lady Melania Trump to help secure her mother’s release ahead of President Trump’s visit to Vietnam for an economic summit last year.
It is unclear whether Ms. Quynh’s release was linked to Mr. Mattis’s visit, during which he toured a site contaminated by the Agent Orange dioxin during the Vietnam War. The U.S. will fund a cleanup effort, beginning next year, which is designed to improve relations between the two wartime foes and counter China’s growing influence in the region.
U.S. officials are now calling on Vietnam’s government to release more political prisoners. It wants the country to “allow all Vietnamese citizens to express their views without fear of retribution,” Ms. Tang said.
Vietnamese officials didn’t respond to requests for comment on Ms. Quynh’s release.
Vietnam launched a sweeping crackdown on dissent in 2016, driven in part by authorities’ concern about the way Facebook might be used to stir up antigovernment protests.
More than 100 prisoners of conscience remain in Vietnamese prisons, often in grim conditions, according to Amnesty International.
That number grew Wednesday when another activist was sentenced to seven years in prison after a one-day trial. Prosecutors accused 27-year-old Nguyen Dinh Thanh of spreading propaganda against the state by distributing leaflets calling on factory workers to join protests against proposals to sell land to foreign businesses.