Vietnam: two newspapers suspended for violating press law

Posted by Elena Perotti on October 23, 2006 at 11:33 AM

The Vietnamese government has ordered two newspapers to suspend their publication because of their coverage of problems with the introduction of the country's new plastic currency. Weekly Thoi Dai and bi-weekly Cong Ly recently published articles denouncing abuses by senior officials during the process of introduction.

Vietnam approved in July a new press law punishing a whole range of journalistic offences. The suspended newspapers are accused of having broken this law by printing wrongful information, and sanctions are being considered on the same grounds against other six publications, including the most popular dailies Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre. The purpose of the law is to sanction journalists who “twist historical reality, deny revolutionary achievements, attack the nation, its great men and national heroes (and) slander and attack the prestige of services and organizations."

The World Editors Forum was involved in August 2006 in a Master Class and met a lot of Vietnamese editors-in-chief. They were very professional - even if loyal to the Communist party - and tried to cover corruption cases. Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre are very successful newspapers because readers know they can find some kind of investigative journalism – not at all the case in other publications -. It would be a pity if such newspapers would have to pay for being professional.

Source: Agence France Presse

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