Paulus Le Son is a Vietnamese blogger, member of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and dissident who was arrested in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

in 2011 and sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2013.

2011 arrest

Son was previously arrested in April 2011 trying to attend the trial of well-known cyber-dissident Cu Huy Ha Vu. On 2 August 2011, Son was trying to attend a hearing on Cu Huy Ha Vu's appeal against Vu's seven-year jail sentence. The next morning, on 3 August 2011 at around 11:30am policed blocked the road around his home in Thanh Hóa Province, and deliberately caused him to fall from his motorcycle as he was coming home. Four police officers dragged him into a police car. The arrest happened during the

2011 crackdown on Vietnamese youth activists Between July 2011 and December 2011 a number of young Vietnamese Christian activists, primarily located in northern province of Nghệ An Province, Nghệ An, Vietnam, and working with the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, were arrested by t ...

which included 17 other Vietnamese youth activists.

2013 conviction

On 9 January 2013, a trial was held by the People's Court of Nghệ An Province for 14 democracy activists, including Son. All of them were sentenced to 3–13 years in prison on charges of subversion. During the court case, Son was accused of participating in a

Viet Tan The Vietnamese people (, ) or the Kinh people (), also known as the Viet people or the Viets, are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day northern Vietnam and southern China who speak Vietnamese, the most widely spoken Austroas ...

meeting. During the trial, Son was the only defendant of the 14 not to have acknowledged any wrongdoings. Police also detained a number of other bloggers who attempted to attend the trial.

International response

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

quickly condemned the arrest in 2011 and called for his immediate release. In a statement, the organization states that "We are appalled by the brutality of Son's arrest, which has all the hallmarks of a police kidnapping" Following the 2013 trial, Brad Adams, Asia director of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

, condemned the arrest and calls for the "convictions to be squashed immediately". He states "The conviction of yet more peaceful activists is another example of a government that is increasingly afraid of the opinions of its own people. Instead of imprisoning critics, the Vietnamese government should be honoring them for their efforts to address the myriad problems facing the country that the government itself has also identified." Following the 2013 trial and conviction,

quickly emerged and stated that it is "appalled at the groundless verdict handed down" that day and that it is the position to prove his innocence. The statement also reads that the group "has proof that the Vietnamese authorities use false pretexts to convict bloggers that criticize them".

References

External links

Paulus Le Son Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Son, Paulus Le Political repression in Vietnam 2013 in Vietnam People from Thanh Hóa province Living people Vietnamese activists Vietnamese Roman Catholics Vietnamese prisoners and detainees Year of birth missing (living people)

2011 arrest

2013 conviction

International response

See also

References

External links