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Vietnam has released a prominent government critic convicted of
spying against the communist government, two weeks before
Vietnam's president makes a historic visit to the U.S., an
official said Sunday.
Nguyen Vu Binh, 39, was released from Nam Ha prison on Saturday
under a presidential amnesty, said Pham Hong Canh, deputy director
of the prison in Ha Nam province, 40 miles south of Hanoi.
Binh, a former journalist, was one of Vietnam's first
"cyber-dissidents," who used the Internet to spread pro-democracy
views. In late 2003, he was convicted of spying and sentenced to
seven years in prison and three years of house arrest. The court
said he had committed espionage by gathering anti-government
information and documents for overseas "reactionary
organizations."
Binh's early release comes as Washington has grown increasingly
concerned about the arrest and jailing of a number of dissidents in
Vietnam.
Last month, President Bush met at the White House with four
Vietnamese-American pro-democracy activists, including one who had
been held in a Vietnamese prison. National Security Council
spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Vietnam's crackdown on expression
was "out of keeping with Vietnam's desire to prosper, modernize
and take a more prominent role in world affairs."
President Nguyen Minh Triet is scheduled to make a June 22 visit
to the United States, the first by a Vietnamese president. After
the White House formally invited Triet to Washington, Vietnamese
Vice Foreign Minister Le Van Bang announced last week that Hanoi
would release three dissidents before the two presidents meet. He
did not say which prisoners would be released.
Binh was arrested in September 2002 for writing an article that
circulated on the Internet criticizing a border agreement between
Vietnam and China. A month earlier, he joined 20 others in signing
a petition to government leaders demanding legal reforms to protect
human rights and establish an independent anti-corruption body.
That same year, he also submitted written testimony to the U.S.
Congress criticizing Vietnam's human rights record.
Binh left his job at the Tap Chi Cong San newspaper in 2001
after applying to form an independent opposition political party.
The Communist Party, Vietnam's only political party, strictly
forbids any calls for a multiparty system.
Last month, a Vietnamese court sentenced three pro-democracy
activists to up to five years in prison apiece after convicting
them of spreading subversive propaganda. The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi
issued a statement saying it was "deeply troubled" by the
convictions, and noting a "disturbing increase" in the harassment
of dissidents.
In March, a Catholic priest was sentenced to eight years in
prison for disseminating materials intended to undermine the
government and communicating with anti-communist groups
overseas.
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