With 18 journalists behind bars, Vietnam ranks fifth in the world for imprisoning members of the press.
Vietnam has made the top 10 list of countries that jail reporters for simply doing their job. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Vietnam came in at fifth spot and along with Thailand was one of the two nations from Southeast Asia to make the list in 2013.
Eighteen journalists remained jailed in Vietnam since last year. Among them was Nguyen Van Hai, an outspoken blogger whose one-day trial, the CPJ said, was plagued with procedural irregularities.
In June, Hai began waging a hunger strike “after prison authorities tried to force him to sign an admission of guilt for the anti-state offenses for which he was convicted. He was placed in solitary confinement when he refused to sign the confession.”
Topping the list was Turkey with 40 arrests, followed by Iran with 35, China on 32 and Eritrea with 22 arrests. War-torn Syria, widely considered the most dangerous place on Earth for journalists, held sixth spot with 12 reporters behind bars.
“The census does not account for the dozens of reporters who have been abducted and are believed to be held by armed opposition groups. As of late 2013, about 30 journalists were missing in Syria,” Elana Beiser editorial director of the CPJ said.
Read: http://thediplomat.com/2014/01/vietnam-worse-than-syria-in-jailing-reporters/
