Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned underground publisher and poet Bui Chat’s arrest at Tan Son Nhat airport on April 30. The founder of the Giay Vun publishing house, Chat had just returned from Buenos Aires, where he had received the “Freedom to Publish Prize” from the International Publishers Association (IPA).
“The Vietnamese authorities gave no reason for Chat’s arrest but it seems directly linked to the prize he received,” RSF said. “Although Vietnam claims to have made significant progress on human rights, journalists, netizens and now publishers continue to be jailed if they dare to defy the government by voicing or relaying dissident views.”
IPA condemned the Chat’s arrest, describing him as a “courageous underground publisher” who had published the works of “pavement poets” and who had “helped create an independent publishing movement.”
The authorities seized Chat’s award and the prize certificate when they arrested him. RSF called on the authorities to release Chat immediately and to abandon any plans to prosecute him.
