Vietnamese Blogger Network - Blogger Mẹ Nấm - Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh ended her hunger strike after the visit of representatives from the US Embassy on July 23rd to Prison No. 5, Thanh Hóa, Vietnam.
In addition to the visit from the US Embassy, it is noted that the European Union Delegation to Vietnam has requested a similar visit; however, their request was met with repeated delays by the Vietnamese authorities.
After having received words from Mẹ Nấm’s mother that the imprisoned blogger would be on a hunger strike as of July 7, 2018, the Vietnamese Blogger Network and its members have been working around the clock to notify and update various embassies and human rights organizations asking for their intervention. Their efforts resulted in several embassies in Hanoi, including but not limited to the United States and the European Union, applying further pressure on the Vietnamese government urging for better prison conditions as well as prison visits with Blogger Mẹ Nấm - Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh. Persistent international inquiries and genuine concerns have brought an end to her hunger strike subsequent to a prison visit by the U.S. embassy officials.
Since the Vietnamese Blogger Network issued a public calling for support of their imprisoned co-founder, Me Nam, via social media and the independent online news blog namely Danlambao, hundreds of letters of support and well-wishing cards have been flooding in to the family, as well as friends and supporters calling and travelling to Thanh Hoa prison camp demanding to know about Me Nam’s health condition. Although the authorities thus far choose to turn a deaf ear to the people’s concerns and queries, they cannot ignore much longer the international community’s calling for the immediate release of blogger Me Nam, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh.
