Vietnamese Citizens Detained for Introducing Books Printed by Liberal Publishing House

Mr. Ho Sy Quyet and his child (FB)

Defend the Defenders, January 3, 2020

 

Vietnam’s authorities have detained Mr. Ho Sy Quyet and his wife for reading and introducing some books made by the unregistered Liberal Publishing House, Defend the Defenders has learned.

According to prominent dissident writer Pham Doan Trang,  at around 2 PM of January 3, a dozen of police officers, mostly in plain clothes, stumped into the private residence of Mr. Quyet’s couple in Ecopark Residence in Van Giang district, Hung Yen province, about 20 km from the capital city of Hanoi.

Police conducted a search of the couple’s apartment without showing a warranty. They took the couple to the district police station and confiscated their items, including a computer, a camera, cell phones, and bank cards as well as some books of the Liberal Publishing House.

In the police station, officers interrogated the couple about their relations with the Liberal Publishing House and why they have its books.

In late evening of the same day, police released the wife, probably because she has a small child to take care of but still hold the husband.

Quyet is among more than 100 citizens being persecuted for reading books printed by the Liberal Publishing House when Vietnam’s security forces launched a campaign to crack down on the publisher in October 2019, Trang said, adding the measures include detentions, interrogation, and property seizure.

In October, Saigon-based activist Vu Huy Hoang was detained and beaten for delivering the publisher’s books to local residents. He was forced to relocate to a secret place while his wife is still under police harassment.

A few days ago, police in Ho Chi Minh City also searched the private residence of a local resident and requested him to prove that he is not a staff of the Liberal Publishing House. Their moves are violations of the law built by the communist regime, Trang noted.

Mr. Quyet, 32, has made a video introducing books of the Liberal Publishing House which prints many books of local dissidents and global authors with the content about human rights and multi-party democracy.