GVN TO RELEASE IMPRISONED CYBER DISSIDENT

UNCLAS HANOI 000119 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/AWH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV VM SUBJECT: GVN TO RELEASE IMPRISONED CYBER DISSIDENT ¶1. (SBU) Imprisoned journalist Tran Khai Thanh Thuy was tried and sentenced today by the Hanoi People's Court to nine months and 10 days or time served and is expected to be released imminently, according to Thuy's husband, who attended the trial. Foreign diplomats were not allowed to attend the three-hour morning trial and were asked to remove themselves from the sidewalk in front of the courthouse. The Court charged Thuy with "violating social order and security." She allegedly refused to cooperate with authorities during her nine-month detention and investigation and refused a court-appointed lawyer. ¶2. (SBU) Thuy, a writer and journalist, was arrested at her home in Hanoi on April 21, 2007 in a crackdown that included the arrest of several other cyber dissidents. She was charged under Article 88 of the GVN criminal code for "conducting propaganda against the State" and held for over nine-months in a Hanoi detention facility without contact with her family or a lawyer. Thuy, a 47-year old mother of two, suffers from tuberculosis and diabetes and her husband was not allowed to transmit medication nor letters from her children during her incarceration. "Reporters Without Borders" circulated a petition on her case, and her case attracted the attention of overseas Vietnamese activists in the United States and Australia. ¶3. (SBU) Because of Thuy's political views, she allegedly was never published in Vietnam. She wrote often for Vietnamese websites overseas under different pseudonyms ("Nguyen Thai Hoang," "Nguyen Thai Binh" and "Nguyen Thi Hien"). During her confinement, the Embassy was in regular contact with Thuy's family and the Ambassador specifically raised her case with the Ministry of Public Security. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: The government's case against Thuy was never strong. Authorities reportedly tried to link her to Vietnamese American activist Ly Tong (a former prisoner in Vietnam, known for flying a plane over Ho Chi Minh City to drop pro-democracy pamphlets and then parachuting out) who allegedly transferred money to Thuy to distribute to land rights protesters in Hanoi. The evidence and crime were never clear. Her release is a welcome development. MICHALAK