Vietnamese authorities have ramped up attacks on civil liberties, targeting especially journalists and media houses. This information is published by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Here is an excerpt:

Vietnamese authorities should release journalist Nguyen Hoai Nam immediately and unconditionally, and stop imprisoning members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On Tuesday, April 5, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced Nam to three years, six months in prison under Article 331 of the penal code, an anti-state provision that bans “abusing freedom and democracy to infringe on the legal interests of the state, organizations, and individuals,” according to news reports.

According to those reports, the charges stemmed from Nam’s critical reporting on how authorities handled a corruption case at the Vietnam Internal Waterways Agency, which he posted on his personal Facebook page, which has about 7,800 followers. Nam, a former state media reporter, also frequently posted criticism of Communist Party officials, reports said.

Read the full article here. Also, see related Democracy Chronicles articles like those on the Journalism and Free Speech, Election History, or even seen our section on American Democracy.