Vietnam
Journalist and activist released from prisonPosted Apr 2 2008
Novelist and journalist Tran Khai Thanh Thuy was released from prison following a closed court hearing in Hanoi Jan. 31. Foreign journalists were not allowed to attend the one-day, sudden trial.
The dissident writer was convicted of “causing public disorder” and sentenced to nine months for breaking the penal code, the Associated Press reports. She was then released from jail for having previously served out her sentence.
Thuy was arrested April 21, originally for distributing information harmful to the state. While imprisoned, Thuy was not allowed visits or letters and preexisting medical conditions worsened after sleeping on the cement floor of her cell during colder winter months, according to Human Rights Watch.
She is the author of several novels and political essays, as well as an editor for a dissident newsletter To Quoc (Fatherland) Review. In 2007 Human Rights Watch honored her with a Hellman/Hammett grant recognizing courage while facing political persecution.
Two other dissidents were sentenced Jan. 29 to six years in prison for circulating pamphlets against the government. The Vietnamese government has been cracking down on those who challenge its one-party government, according to the AP.