Viet Nam: Nephews and niece of Father Nguyen Van Ly to be freed following appeal (AI)

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE


AI Index: ASA 41/042/2003 (Public)
News Service No: 270
28 November 2003



Viet Nam: Nephews and niece of Father Nguyen Van Ly to be freed
following appeal



Amnesty International welcomed the decision today by the Ho Chi Minh
City People's Supreme Court to reduce the sentences of the nephews and
niece of prisoner of conscience Father Nguyen Van Ly. Brothers Nguyen
Vu Viet and Nguyen Truc Cuong both had their prison terms shortened to
32 months from five years and four years respectively. Their sister,
Nguyen Thi Hoa, who was sentenced by a lower court to three years in
jail, had her prison term reduced to four months and six days. "We
understand that Nguyen Thi Hoa was allowed to go home and that her
brothers will be free within days," the organization said today.

"Whilst Amnesty International welcomes recent instances of sentence
reductions, the organization believes that the individuals concerned,
including the nephews and niece of Father Nguyen Van Ly, are prisoners
of conscience and should never have been detained in the first place".

"Nguyen Vu Viet and Nguyen Truc Cuong have been imprisoned for two and a
half years while their sister, a widow with four children, placed under
house arrest pending the appeal, faced the prospect of a lengthy jail
sentence. Their lives have been decimated," said Amnesty International
today.

"Amnesty International is concerned that the Vietnamese authorities may
be using selective sentence reductions in a cynical attempt to deflect
increasing international criticism, and that this practice is mere
window dressing disguising deep-rooted human rights problems that need
to be urgently addressed," added the organization.

Background

Nguyen Vu Viet [m], 27, Nguyen Truc Cuong [m], 36, and Nguyen
Thi Hoa [f], 44, the nephews and niece of prisoner of conscience Father
Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, who is serving a 10 year prison sentence for his
outspoken criticism of Viet Nam's human rights record, were arrested
between 13 and 19 June 2001. They were accused of providing information
about their uncle and the religious situation in Viet Nam to two
overseas Vietnamese organizations.

The original charge sheet, which Amnesty International has
obtained, outlines in great detail the case against the three siblings.
It listed the dates and full contents of communications " emails, phone
calls and faxes " made by the three. It is clear that the Vietnamese
authorities had access to the Internet messages of the accused and
recorded at least some of their phone conversations. The charge sheet
recommended that the three should be charged under Article 80 of the
Criminal Code for espionage.

The first scheduled trial to hear their cases was postponed. At
the next hearing, on 10 September 2003, the charges against them had
been changed to "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the
interests of the State" as outlined in Article 258 (2) of the Criminal
Code. After a closed trial lasting only three hours Nguyen Vu Viet,
Nguyen Truc Cuong and Nguyen Thi Hoa were sentenced to five, four and
three years imprisonment respectively.

The case of the nephews and niece of Father Nguyen Van Ly was
featured in Amnesty International's recent report, Viet Nam: Freedom of
_expression under threat in cyberspace (AI Index ASA 41/037/2003).







Public Document
****************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in
London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web:
http://www.amnesty.org

For latest human rights news view http://news.amnesty.org



---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now


--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG