HANOI: A Vietnamese blogger said yesterday authorities had banned him from travelling to the United States to collect a rights award on behalf of his father and sister, a move criticized by Human Rights Watch and the US Embassy.
Huynh Trong Hieu, 24, said he was attempting to check in at Ho Chi Minh City airport on Sunday when immigration officials confiscated his passport and ticket. “The authorities want to show everyone that if you try to fight for democracy (in Vietnam) you will be kept under pressure,” Hieu, a second-year law student who runs a pro-democracy blog, told AFP yesterday.
Hieu was on his way to the US to accept the Hellman-Hammett prize from HRW on behalf of his father Huynh Ngoc Tuan and sister Huynh Thuc Vy, both prominent pro-democracy bloggers in Vietnam.
Tuan and Vy are not officially under arrest but Hieu told AFP they were routinely harassed by police.
“The Vietnam government’s banning of Hieu from travelling just compounds the rights violations they have already visited on the Huynh family for exercising their right to free speech,” said Phil Robertson, HRW’s Asia deputy director.
Vietnam bans man from US award trip
