Hanoi: The US State Department’s recent award to a prominent imprisoned Vietnamese blogger was “inappropriate,” a Vietnamese government spokesman said.
Blogger and environmental activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, also known by her pen name Mother Mushroom, was one of 13 women honoured with the International Women of Courage Award on Wednesday by First Lady Melania Trump.
Quynh, who was unable to attend the ceremony, has been imprisoned in Vietnam since October 10, 2016, on charges of “conducting propaganda against the state.””
Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh defended her arrest at a Thursday press conference in Hanoi, adding that the award was “not beneficial” to bilateral relations. “Vietnam thinks that the US State Department awarding a person who is now in detention for legal violations in Vietnam is impartial, inappropriate, and not beneficial for the development of the two countries,” he said. — dpa
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