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Alert

Grave concerns for health of imprisoned Internet writer Pham Hong Son

(WiPC/IFEX) - The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC) is gravely concerned about the health of internet publisher and dissident Pham Hong Son, who is said to be seriously ill in prison and in urgent need of medical attention.

WiPC urges that he receive a medical examination by an independent doctor and all necessary medical treatment immediately. WiPC calls for his immediate and unconditional release on humanitarian grounds and in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Vietnam is a signatory.

According to reports, Son's health has been deteriorating since August 2004. Requests from his family for him to be given a medical examination to determine the nature of his illness have not been granted. His symptoms include coughing up blood. He is also believed to require an operation for a hernia.

Son was arrested on 27 March 2002 and sentenced to thirteen years in prison and three years' house arrest by the Ha Noi People's Court on 18 June 2003. He was convicted on espionage charges for his pro-democracy activities, including using email to "translate and send anti-Party documents and anti-government documents" to colleagues abroad. In an appeal hearing on 26 August 2003, the Hanoi Supreme Court upheld the conviction against Son, but reduced his sentence from 13 to five years imprisonment. Son will still be required to serve three years of administrative detention (house arrest) upon his release from prison.

Son, aged 37, is a medical doctor by training, but since 2001 has dedicated himself to writing and translating pro-democracy articles and posting them on various overseas websites. He is married with two sons aged seven and five, and has been forbidden from receiving family visits in detention. He is a recipient of the 2003 Hellman/Hammett award for persecuted writers.