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Alert

Cyber-dissident released, sent back to United States

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 22 September 2006 CPJ press release:

VIETNAM: Internet writer and activist released, sent back to U.S.

New York, September 22, 2006 - The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Cong Thanh Do, a Vietnamese political activist and pro-democracy advocate who writes on the Internet under the pen name Tran Nam. Cong was detained August 14 while on vacation with his family in Phan Thiet on the central Vietnam coast, 125 miles (200 kilometers) north of Ho Chi Minh City.

Do, a U.S. citizen, had spent 10 days in solitary confinement in Ho Chi Minh City while under investigation for alleged terrorist activities before his family decided to publicize his case on September 6. The government deported him on Thursday without comment. Do reports on the harassment and imprisonment of political activists, dissidents, and writers in Vietnam.

"We welcome the release of Cong Thanh Do," said Joel Simon, CPJ's executive director. "But we call on the Vietnamese government to end its harassment of all dissident writers and journalists."

To read CPJ's September 6 alert with a full account of Cong's case, click on http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/asia/vietnam06sept06na.html

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.cpj.org