Vietnam frees 18,200 prisons, but no political dissidents

Sep 20, 2015 11:41 GMT  ·  By

Three of the Internet's biggest hacktivism groups, Anonymous, AntiSec and HagashTeam, have carried out a joint operation in which they've defaced numerous pages on the Vietnamese government portal.

Their action was spurned following the news that Vietnamese government officials had freed 18,200 prisoners on September 2, the country's National Day. This day marked the 70th anniversary since the modern communist state of Vietnam was founded.

This was the country's second biggest amnesty ever, after it also pardoned 20,599 prisoners back in 2009.

Anonymous and company were mad that no political dissident was freed in the country's recent decision. This is part of the message left on all the hacked pages, as obtained by HackRead:

"Supported in ambiguous and imprecise legislation, the Vietnamese Executive keeps a few years ago a strong repression against political activists, journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders. The 1999 Criminal Code is used against those who raise their voices to denounce abuses of power and corruption. Vietnam announced the release of over 18,200 prisoners, none of them political prisoner on the occasion of 70th anniversary of independence."

"Among the released prisoners are murderers and drug traffickers, but none convicted of 'propaganda against the state' or 'intent to defeat the regime,' two charges that government often used against opponents. [...] The defense of human rights organizations and Western governments often criticize Vietnam for its repression of dozens of jailed dissidents."