VRNs / Translate by Nhu Ngoc (Danlambao) - “From Thanh Hoa prison, my sister Tan called me saying she is sick and coughing a lot. A number of prisoners are recently transferred to her cell; they insult her and beat her if she talks back. They traduce our mother [Mrs. Dang Thi Kim Lieng] by making rude gestures towards her picture. My sister Tan said she filed a complaint about it, and if she won’t call home next month it would mean they attack her,” Mrs. Ta Minh Tu, a younger sister of Mrs. Ta Phong Tan, told VRNs reporter.
She angrily added, “I am disappointed with this regime. The deceased cannot rest. Without the backing of someone, which prisoner would dare to act like that?”
“There is nothing disgusting and despicable than an insult to the dead, especially to a great mother. This is the game of the prison guards. I had been there so I know it. Usually, ordinary prisoners respect and [listen to] the prisoners of conscience,” said blogger Phan Thanh Nghien.
Currently, blogger Ta Phong Tan is detained at Prison No. 5 in Yen Dinh, Thanh Hoa, which reports to the Ministry of Public Security.
Mrs. Dang Thi Kim Lieng, mother of blogger Ta Phong Tan and Mrs. Ta Minh Tu, committed a self-immolation protest at the headquarters of Bac Lieu Provincial Committee on July 30, 2012, stirring up the public opinion at home and abroad. At that time, blogger Ta Phong Tan was detained at Prison No. 4 on Phan Dang Luu Street, Binh Thanh district, Saigon.
On September 24, 2012, the communist regime ordered a court to sentence blogger Ta Phong Tan to 10 years in prison on charge of “making propaganda against the State” under paragraph 2 of Article 88 of the Penal Code, and the appeal trial on December 28, 2012 upheld the sentence. Blogger Ta Phong Tan has rejected this unjust verdict.
Blogger Ta Phong Tan wrote and posted more than 700 articles on her Justice and Truth blog, exposing social problems in Vietnam such as child abuse, corruption, illegal land confiscation carried out by local party officials, and professional analysis on legal issues.
Before becoming a freelance writer, Ta Phong Tan was a police officer of Hanoi regime. Her former career gives her a deep knowledge and keen vision on how the regime rules the country.
VRNs / Translate by Nhu Ngoc
