Mẹ Nấm’s temporary detention extended for another three months
Blogger Mẹ Nấm
The 88 Project, February 24, 2017: Blogger Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh – Mẹ Nấm’s temporary detention was extended for another three months, yet her family did not receive any written notice. Ms. Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Lan, Mẹ Nấm’s mother, told VOA on February 23 that Khánh Hòa province’s People’s Procuracy had signed a temporary detention extension order for her daughter on January 13, but she has not yet seen the written document. All notices thus far have been given to her “verbally.” She told VOA Vietnamese:
“According to the four-month temporary detention order, February 10 should have been the last day of the detention. On February 14, hearing nothing from the authorities, I filed an inquiry. On February 21, they invited me to come to meet with them and said they had the right to extend the detention for another three months. The officer who invited me was Captain Ngô Xuân Phong. He read to me the order signed on January 13 that extended the temporary detention from February 7 to May 7, meaning for three more months. I asked why they had not notified the family. He said they had notified the temporary detainee only.”
The Public Security agency did not explain why they had not notified Mẹ Nấm lawyer, lawyer Nguyễn Hà Luân of Hưng Đạo Law Firm, either.
Neither the family nor the lawyer have been allowed to communicate with Mẹ Nấm since her arrest on October 10, 2016 under Art. 88. Ms. Tuyết Lan said the law firm had done everything they could, but their written requests to meet with Mẹ Nấm did not receive any response from the authorities.
Mrs Tuyet Lan and Me Nam’s children. Source: Tuyet Lan Nguyen’s Facebook
Mẹ Nấm is a single mother of two young children. During the last month, the family was not allowed to even send her a short note from her children to ask after their mother’s health.
Read more about Mẹ Nấm here, and the heartfelt letter from her mother after Mẹ Nấm’s arrest.
And, please take Amnesty International’s Urgent Action for Mẹ Nấm to demand the Vietnamese authorities to release Mẹ Nấm and to ensure her rights to have access to family and lawyers, to adequate treatment and medical care.
© 2017 The 88 Project
