Official Launch of “Anh Ba Sam” Book in Ha Noi before the Prominent Blogger’s Trial

On March 22, less than 24 hours before the trial of prominent bloggers Nguyen Huu Vinh (aka Anh Ba Sam) and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, families and friends of the two bloggers officially launched the book “Anh Ba Sam” in Ha Noi with foreign diplomats from Western embassies in attendance. “Anh Ba Sam” is the first bilingual Vietnamese-English book about a prisoner of conscience in Vietnam. It was released on Amazon on March 15, 2016.

At the meeting, Ms. Le Thi Minh Ha, the wife of blogger Anh Ba Sam, and Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuyen, mother of blogger Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, expressed their gratitude to Vietnamese people everywhere who have raised their voices against the violation of human rights of the bloggers and the violation of criminal procedural rules in their case.

Each guest who attended the book launch and meeting with the families received a copy of the book and a T-shirt with blogger Ba Sam’s portrait printed. A copy of the book had previously been sent to the office of the Prime Minister of Vietnam in Ha Noi.

Blogger Anh Ba Sam was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment and his assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy got a 3-year sentence on March 23, 2016 in Ha Noi People’s Court. Protesters gathered in front of the court as the trial took place to show their support to the bloggers. Several prominent dissidents were taken in custody by the police for joining the protest.

Source: Ms. Le Thi Minh Ha’s Facebook (Vietnamese)

Summarized and translated by Huong Nguyen

© The 88 Project 2016