Hanoi (AFP) – Four members of a Vietnamese family who spread news online about a deadly land dispute have been arrested, authorities said Thursday, as the communist government cracks down on dissent ahead of its party congress.
Vietnam’s authoritarian rulers typically move swiftly to muzzle critics and dissidents posting online, and the run-up to a leadership transition in January poses an especially tense period for the paranoid state.
The arrest of the four family members comes months after a violent dispute in a village near Hanoi, where residents had been resisting the military’s attempts to build an airport on their land.
Can Thi Theu — who has already served two prison sentences — and her family are believed to have been the first to spread news of the clash in January, in which three policemen and a villager were killed.
Theu, two sons in their 30s, and another relative were arrested on Wednesday, the ministry of public security said, on the charge of “making, hoarding and disseminating propaganda” against the state.
The family could not immediately be reached for comment.
Their detention was condemned by Human Rights Watch (HRW), who warned Vietnam “to stop trampling on the rights of its people”.
“Demanding respect for rights and calling out officials involved in rapacious land grabs should not be a crime,” said HRW’s Phil Robertson.
“It has been an unfortunate tradition in Vietnam that every time the Communist Party of Vietnam is gearing up for a congress, there is a crackdown on activists and dissidents and this is no different,” he added.
Land disputes are common in Vietnam, where powerful individuals and companies often make claims on property.
The government strictly controls freedom of expression and the right to protest, but flashpoints occur.
Separately, two activists were also arrested on Wednesday for “livestreaming clips, shaming the party and state”, national media reported.
The party congress is a five-yearly leadership transition where members of the highly secretive Communist Party of Vietnam jostle for influence.
A hardline government that took power during the last such meeting has moved swiftly to stamp out dissent and arrest critics, and a number of high-profile journalists and other activists have been arrested in recent months.
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