Như Ngọc (Danlambao) - According to VRNs, during the family visit this morning, the prisoner of conscience Le Quoc Quan confirmed his family that he has been on a hunger strike for 6 days since February 2, 2014.
The rights lawyer demands seeing a priest so he can receive sacraments and blessing, receiving a Holy Bible, pens and law books for making research to defend himself at his up-coming appeal trial, which is announced to take place on February 18, 2014. He also demands the improvement of the detention conditions at Hoa Lo Prison, where he has been imprisoned in a very crowded cell and banned from using pens and books.
On October 2, 2013, Mr. Quan received a 30 months in prison sentence for tax evasion, a sentence he has strongly rejected.
The Vietnamese communist regime has been silent from prominent international calls for the release of Mr. Quan. Recently, the U.S. delegation reiterated a call for his release at the Vietnam’s Universal Periodic Review on February 5, 2014.
Mr. Le Quoc Quyet, a younger brother of Mr. Quan, told VRNs reporter that his family is very worried about his brother’s health condition. Mr. Quan said he continues to make hunger strike until the appeal hearing and will engage on a prolong hunger strike after the hearing if the appeal court will uphold the arbitrary verdict of the lower court.
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