Viet Nams government must halt its ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, Amnesty International said today after mass arrests during a peaceful protest in the capital Ha Noi.

On 5 August, authorities in the capital arrested and detained around 30 people who were peacefully protesting against Chinas territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea, known in Viet Nam as the East Sea.

Anti-corruption activist Le Hien Duc, 81, was among those rounded up, along with students and bloggers. They were held at local police stations and a so-called rehabilitation centre. All of those detained have now been released.

This is the latest blow to freedom of expression in Viet Nam, with the authorities using short term arrests as a way of intimidating those who seek to protest peacefully, said Rupert Abbott, Amnesty Internationals Researcher on Viet Nam.

The ongoing crackdown has put bloggers, writers, lawyers, labour activists, members of religious groups, farmers, business people and democracy activists behind bars, he said.

Detention of prominent bloggers

The mass arrests in Ha Noi followed news that there has been a further postponement in the trial of three well-known bloggers accused of anti-state propaganda.

The three bloggers are Nguyen Van Hai, known as Dieu Cay (the peasants pipe); former policewoman Ta Phong Tan, whose blog is called Justice and Truth; and Phan Thanh Hai, known as AnhBaSG. They are all founding members of the Free Vietnamese Journalists Club and used their blogs to promote human rights.

They are accused of conducting anti-state propaganda under Article 88 of Viet Nams Criminal Code, and face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The three bloggers are prisoners of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression through their online writings, said Abbott.

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Viet Nam: Halt crackdown on freedom of expression