Vietnam arrests blogger over anti-government videos
Hanoi - Vietnamese police have arrested a blogger for"defaming" top government officials, state-controlled media reported Sunday.
Nguyen Danh Dung was arrested in the central province of Thanh Hoaover accusations of "abusing democratic rights in attempting to damage the interests of the state, organizations and citizens,"reported the VN Express news site.
Dung had reportedly used his blog and social media accounts to post 700 videos that were critical of government and Comumunist Party leaders.
Arrests of bloggers are common in Vietnam, where the government tolerates little dissent against the ruling single party communist state.
The UN Human Rights Office in Bangkok expressed "serious concern" in November over the detainment of blogger Ho Van Hai, who had been arrested that month.
According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, Vietnam currently holds at least 130 political prisoners.
Hanoi maintains that only those who break the law are imprisoned and denies holding any political prisoners.