What you need to know
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was imprisoned last year after criticizing the government's lackluster response to the 2016 Formosa environmental disaster.
By Michael Tatarski
- Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was released from prison in Vietnam last week without warning and expelled to Houston, Texas with her family. She was at the start of a 10-year prison sentence.
- Quynh gained international fame for blogging about the Formosa environmental disaster in 2016, and was imprisoned for speaking out against the government’s lackluster response to the related death of thousands of fish and other massive impacts.
- Also known by her blogging moniker ‘Mother Mushroom,’ Quynh is just one of a number of other environmental activists and bloggers who remain imprisoned for speaking out about the same disaster.
In a surprise move, the Vietnamese government released Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, the environmental blogger known as Mother Mushroom, from prison on Wednesday, Oct. 17. Quynh, 39, was subsequently flown to Houston, along with her mother and two children.
Credit: Youtube Screenshot
Quynh was arrested on Oct. 10, 2016, and on June 29, 2017 she was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “conducting propaganda against the state.” It remains unclear why Quynh was released, though Secretary of Defense James Mattis was visiting Ho Chi Minh City at the time, leading to speculation that this was a goodwill gesture by the Vietnamese government.
The State Department has yet to comment on the matter.
According to AFP, upon arrival in Texas, Quynh said: “I will continue to raise my voice until there is human rights in Vietnam, real human rights.”
She gained international attention following a 2016 disaster in which the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation discharged huge amounts of chemicals from an under-construction steel plant on the north-central coast. Fish stocks were decimated throughout four provinces, wiping out the livelihoods of numerous fishermen and their families.
Credit: Reuters / Kham
The disaster is among the most controversial topics in Vietnam today, as public anger after the catastrophe quickly targeted the government. Quynh’s writing about Formosa played a role in her arrest.
Quynh hails from Nha Trang, a city on Vietnam’s south-central coast. She had originally been imprisoned there, but earlier this year was moved to another facility hundreds of miles away, separating her from her family. Quynh had reportedly gone on at least one hunger strike in order to protest her treatment.
In March 2017, First Lady Melania Trump awarded her the International Women of Courage Award, further raising her profile.
Credit: Reuters / Tyrone Siu
She is but one of many activists to have been arrested in the wake of the Formosa scandal, most of whom remain behind bars. She is also not the first to be released and exiled abroad.
In June, Nguyen Van Dai, a human rights lawyer who had been sentenced to 15 years in jail for “attempting to overthrow the state,” was sent to Germany.
The aftermath of the Formosa disaster has largely faded from public view, especially as nationwide protests over the summer have led to a fresh round of activist arrests and prison sentences. Quynh’s release will likely refocus some attention on the matter, though likely not within Vietnam, where this development has yet to be reported in local media.
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The News Lens has been authorized to publish this article from Mongabay, an environmental science and conservation news and information site. The original article can be found here.
TNL Editor: Nick Aspinwall (@Nick1Aspinwall)
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