Father Nguyen Van Ly, Honorary Member of Sydney PEN, re-arrested — 30.07.2011
Vietnamese police re-arrested editor and Catholic priest Father Nguyen Van Ly (pronounced – noiyen ven lee) on 25 July 2011, allegedly for distributing anti-government leaflets during his parole. Nguyen Van Ly had been on medical leave from an eight year prison sentence for over a year.
Sydney PEN is encouraged to learn that Australian officials, along with officials from other embassies in Hanoi, have raised Father Ly’s case with the Vietnamese authorities. Sydney PEN would like to encourage PEN members to contact diplomats here and overseas in support of Fr Nguyen Van Ly. A sample letter is available at the bottom of this post.
A close friend of Father Nguyen Van Ly sent this message to Sydney PEN on 25 July:
Father Nguyen Van Ly
Today (25 July) at 14:30 LT(GMT+7), at Hue city, public security police (in police van and ambulance car) came to the retreat house of Hue Archbishop without a prior notice and forced Father Nguyen Van Ly to go back to the camp in order to continue serving his prison sentence.
Father P.
Retreat House, Hue Archbishop.
Father Nguyen Van Ly sent this message to a PEN member on 24 July 2011, the day before his re-arrest:
In July 2009, my right arm and my right foot were paralyzed 100%. After 15 months of treatment in Hue, my right arm and my right foot have been restored to about 60%. I can hold a pen and write slowly like a child attending the first class of a primary school. I can limp in and out the room without a walking stick for a short distance (10 to 12 meters). Very slow recovery is observed because of my age (65) and the consequences of many long years in prison. Recently, I have developed an inflamed prostate (hoping it is not a cancer). Please express my gratitude to PEN Writers in Prison Committee, PEN Sydney/WIPC and all PEN members for their multiple action to defend and help me.
The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International protests the re-arrest of Nguyen Van Ly on 25 July 2011. It calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Father Nguyen Van Ly in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam is a signatory, and on humanitarian grounds.
Background
Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest and co-editor of the underground online magazine Tu do Ngôn luan (Free Speech), was arrested on 19 February 2007 and sentenced to eight years in prison on 30 March 2007 for ‘Conducting propaganda against the State’. Nguyen Van Ly is a leading member of the pro-democracy movement “Bloc 8406”, and has spent some seventeen years in prison since 1977 for his activism in support of freedom of expression and religion, in harsh conditions and often in solitary confinement. In October 2001 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his online publication of an essay on human rights violations in Vietnam, and was a main case of PEN International. He was released under amnesty in February 2005 (see previous alerts). He is an Honorary Member of Sydney PEN.
For more information about the arrest, see this Amnesty International Press Release of 26 July 2011.
Appeal
Sydney PEN urges members to ask Australian diplomatic representatives to intervene in the case, and ask them to pass on appeals to Vietnamese representatives protesting the re-arrest of Father Nguyen Van Ly, and expressing serious concerns for his health; calling for his immediate and unconditional release in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam is a state party; and on humanitarian grounds.
A pro forma letter for Sydney PEN members is available here.
Please send appeals to:
His Excellency Nguyên Minh Triêt
President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
C/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Nguyên Tân Dung
Prime Minister
1 Hoang Hoa Tham Street
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Lê Doan Hop
Minister of Culture and Information
1 Hoang Hoa Tham Street
Hanoi
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
H.E. Mr Allaster Cox
Ambassador
Australian Embassy
HANOI
Locked Bag 40
Kingston ACT 2604
Fax +84-4 3774 0111
Lauren Bain
Director of the Vietnam, Burma and Laos Section
R.G. Casey Building
John McEwen Crescent
Barton ACT 0221
Fax: +61 2 6261 3111
The Hon Kevin Rudd MP
Minister for Foreign Affairs
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
For further information contact Cathy McCann at PEN International Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: cathy.mccann@pen-international.org