<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Vietnamese blogger arrested for criticizing government’s handling of chemical spill at Formosa Steel plant…<div class=""><br class=""><div class=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; orphans: 2; widows: 2; border-spacing: 0px;"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">Arthur Stamoulis</div><div class="">Citizens Trade Campaign</div><div class="">(202) 494-8826</div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div><div class=""><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/12/world/asia/vietnam-arrest-blogger-mother-mushroom.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0" class="">http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/12/world/asia/vietnam-arrest-blogger-mother-mushroom.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><header id="story-header" class="story-header" style="position: relative; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div id="story-meta" class=" story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><h1 itemprop="headline" id="headline" class="headline" style="font-size: 2.125rem; line-height: 2.375rem; font-style: italic; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Vietnam Arrests Mother Mushroom, a Top Blogger, for Criticizing Government</h1><div id="story-meta-footer" class="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-top: 14px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-bottom: 16px;"><p class="byline-dateline" style="margin: 0px 45px 3px 0px; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 17px; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;"><span class="byline" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; font-weight: 700; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin-right: 12px;">By <span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="MIKE IVES" itemprop="name" style="white-space: nowrap;">MIKE IVES</span></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2016-10-11T07:40:09-04:00" itemprop="dateModified" content="2016-10-11T07:40:09-04:00" style="white-space: nowrap; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin-left: 0px;">OCT. 11, 2016</time></p><div class="story-meta-footer-sharetools" style="margin-top: 0px;"><div id="sharetools-story-meta-footer" aria-label="tools" role="group" class=" sharetools sharetools-story-meta-footer theme-classic" data-shares="facebook,twitter,email,show-all,save" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/12/world/asia/vietnam-arrest-blogger-mother-mushroom.html" data-title="Vietnam Arrests Mother Mushroom, a Top Blogger, for Criticizing Government" data-author="By MIKE IVES" data-media="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/10/12/world/12VIETNAM-web1/12VIETNAM-web1-jumbo.jpg" data-description="Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a co-founder of the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers, has challenged leaders over topics including a dump of toxic chemicals." data-publish-date="October 11, 2016" data-share-tools-initialized="1"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/12/world/asia/vietnam-arrest-blogger-mother-mushroom.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="position: absolute; 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margin-bottom: 7px; cursor: pointer; width: auto;"><object data="cid:444398BB-57C6-45A5-AFD6-75A5E209E313@hsd1.pa.comcast.net." type="application/x-apple-msg-attachment" alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/10/12/world/12VIETNAM-web1/12VIETNAM-web1-superJumbo.jpg" data-mediaviewer-caption="The Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh in 2015." data-mediaviewer-credit="Jonas Gratzer/Civil Rights Defenders" itemprop="url" itemid="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/10/12/world/12VIETNAM-web1/12VIETNAM-web1-master315.jpg" apple-inline="yes" id="464E1AA6-A419-4D36-8B4A-9E295EA059D1" height="210" width="315" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" style="max-width: 100%; display: block;"></object><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; opacity: 0; bottom: 15px; left: 15px; position: absolute; z-index: 5; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); cursor: pointer;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; background-image: url(https://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20161010-144813/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); width: 38px; height: 38px; background-position: -223px -139px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"></span></div></div><figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); max-width: 100%; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="caption-text">The Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh in 2015.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem; display: inline-block; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span class="visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Credit</span>Jonas Gratzer/Civil Rights Defenders </span></figcaption></figure><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="283" data-total-count="283" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 60px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 540px;">HONG KONG — The authorities in <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/vietnam/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" title="More news and information about Vietnam." class="meta-loc" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Vietnam</a> said on Tuesday that they had arrested a popular blogger who has criticized the country’s one-party government over politically sensitive topics, including <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/04/world/asia/formosa-vietnam-fish.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">a </a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/04/world/asia/formosa-vietnam-fish.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">dump of toxic chemicals</a> that devastated fishing communities and set off protests.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="315" data-total-count="598" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 60px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 540px;">The blogger, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, 37, was detained on Monday in Khanh Hoa, a south-central province. She was accused on Tuesday of distorting the truth and spreading propaganda against the state, according to the Vietnamese news media. The charges carry a maximum prison term of 12 years. No trial date was given.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="410" data-total-count="1008" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 60px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 540px;">Ms. Quynh, who writes under the pen name Mother Mushroom, is a co-founder of the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers, one of the few independent writers’ associations in Vietnam. The country’s news media and publishing industry are heavily controlled by the governing Communist Party, and writers who stray outside the system and challenge the party are frequently imprisoned under vague national security laws.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="383" data-total-count="1391" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 60px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 540px;">Pham Doan Trang, a dissident writer in Hanoi and a member of the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers, said that the authorities might have arrested Ms. Quynh to intimidate younger bloggers who have been inspired by her online crusades — via Facebook and independent blogs — against corruption, social injustice and police brutality. But Ms. Trang predicted that the tactic would fail.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="172" data-total-count="1563" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 60px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 540px;">“She has a lot of supporters,” Ms. Trang said of Ms. Quynh in an interview via Facebook Messenger on Tuesday. “Many of them will replace her or follow in her path.”</p><div class="newsletter-signup" id="newsletter-promo" data-newsletter-productcode="AE" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-top: 15px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-bottom: 15px; float: left; clear: left; margin: 7px 30px 15px 60px; width: 300px;"><h2 class="headline" style="font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; 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color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">PRIVACY POLICY</a></li></ul></div><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="347" data-total-count="1910" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 60px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 540px;">Citing a news broadcast, Ms. Trang added that investigators had found materials in Ms. Quynh’s home that criticized the government’s handling of a chemical dump in April at a Taiwanese-owned steel plant in central Vietnam that caused <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/09/world/asia/vietnam-fish-kill.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">mass fish deaths</a>. It is believed to be among the worst environmental disasters in Vietnam’s modern history.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="378" data-total-count="2288" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 60px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 540px;">Although the company, Formosa Steel, has agreed to pay $500 million in damages, many Vietnamese have criticized the government for initially remaining silent about the cause of the spill and then refusing to release full details on the likely health or environmental impacts. Outrage over the scandal has festered for months and continues to set off protests in central Vietnam.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="348" data-total-count="2636" id="story-continues-1" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 60px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 540px;">In 2009, Ms. Quynh was detained for more than a week after writing about a bauxite mining project in Vietnam’s restive Central Highlands, in which investors included a state-owned Chinese company. Chinese economic influence is a politically delicate topic that the government has tried to play down. She was not charged with a crime at that time.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="277" data-total-count="2913" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 60px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 540px;">“It was ugly what was happening in our society,” Ms. Quynh said in <a href="https://cpj.org/blog/2014/09/undercover-in-vietnam-bloggers-play-risky-game-of-.php" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">a 2014 interview with the Committee to Protect Journalists</a>, a New York-based advocacy group. “My blog asked: Why must we agree with the government on everything? Why can’t we have different opinions?”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="227" data-total-count="3140" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 60px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 540px;">In 2015, Ms. Quynh was named <a href="https://www.civilrightsdefenders.org/uncategorized/civil-rights-defender-of-the-year-award-goes-to-ms-nguyen-ngoc-nhu-quynh/" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">civil rights defender of the year by Civil Rights Defenders</a>, an advocacy group based in Stockholm. The group’s executive director, Robert Hardh, said on Tuesday that he was saddened by her arrest.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="228" data-total-count="3368" data-node-uid="1" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 60px; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 540px;">“People very often have a picture of Vietnam as one of the ‘tiger economies’ and a tourist country,” Mr. Hardh said in a telephone interview. “But in reality, the situation is really dire for human rights defenders.”</p><footer class="story-footer story-content" style="max-width: none; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 60px; width: 540px; position: relative; margin-top: 24px; clear: both;"><div class="story-meta"><div class="story-notes"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><i class="">Follow Mike Ives on Twitter </i><a href="https://twitter.com/mikeives" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class=""><i class="">@mikeives</i></a><i class="">.</i></p></div></div></footer></div></div></div></body></html>