Vietnam frees dissident blogger known as ‘Mother Mushroom’ on the condition she be exiled to US
Despite sweeping economic reforms since the mid-1980s that made Vietnam one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, communist authorities tolerate no challenge to their one-party rule
Vietnam has freed a well-known blogger after two years in prison on the condition that she leave for the United States.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, known as “Mother Mushroom”, was arrested in October 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of defaming the communist government. The conviction of the popular blogger, who wrote about human rights and industrial pollution, drew criticism from some Western governments and international human rights groups.
Friends of the 39-year-old blogger said she was on her way to the US with her mother and two young children.
“After numerous efforts, the family of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was reunited in a free country,” her friend Nguyen Tin wrote on his Facebook page. “Congratulations to her small family.”
Quynh’s lawyer, Ha Huy Son, said her release was good news but did not lift the obstacles faced by people who fight for democracy in Vietnam.
Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southeast Asia, said in a statement: “While Mother Mushroom is no longer imprisoned, the condition for her release was exile and there are over 100 people languishing in jail because they peacefully spoke their mind – in public, on blogs or on Facebook.”
While Mother Mushroom is no longer imprisoned, the condition for her release was exile
