ICC Note:

A Catholic blogger that has been detained may be facing torture or death. The blogger, a mother of three, was arrested for being critical of the government. She and two others had protested after being denied a visit to a prisoner of conscience. After her detainment she was taken to her home, her house was searched, and she was taken away again. Vietnam, one of the few truly Communist governments left in the world, strongly opposes criticism. Christians in Vietnam are often heavily persecuted. 

10/25/2016 Vietnam (Amnesty International) – Human rights defender Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh, known as blogger Mẹ Nấm (Mother Mushroom) was arrested on 10 October and has been charged with “conducting propaganda” against the state under Article 88 of Viet Nam’s Penal Code. She is at risk of torture and ill-treatment. It is not known where she is currently detained.

Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh was arrested at 10 am on 10 October in her home town of Nha Trang in Khánh Hòa province, South Central Coast of Vietnam. She was accompanying the mother of an activist trying to visit him in a local prison when she was arrested and driven away by security police. They took her home at around 11.30 am and conducted a search, confiscating her computer and electronic equipment and demonstration placards.

Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh has been charged with “conducting propaganda” against the state under Article 88 of Viet Nam’s Penal Code. If tried and convicted she may face imprisonment of between three and 20 years. It is not known where she is currently detained. In Viet Nam, those arrested for alleged national security offences can be held incommunicado for up to two years before being brought to trial.

…