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photo courtesy of nguoi-viet.com
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There’s a happy update on the Viet Khang story.
Khang was arrested in 2011 for writing and recording songs, “Anh La Ai” and “Viet Nam Toi Dau”. Despite the international attention from the world, the songwriter was trial and sentenced to four years in prison with two years of probation in October 2012. His friend, Tran Vu Anh Binh, was sentenced to 6 years and 2 years probation in the same trial for “Propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”.
After serving his time, Khang was brought to the U.S. on February 8, 2018, thanks to the Vietnamese community and help from the government (particularly Senator John McCain and lawyer Shu Ming).
Most of this struggle is well documented by Vietnamese-language television SBTN.
Now that Khang is in the United States, Khang can breathe a sigh of relief. There’s no fear of imprisonment for singing or writing songs. This is a small victory, but we have to remember that some countries, like China, can imprison writers, who criticize the government. For example, poet and critic Liu Xiaobo, who was arrested in 2008 and died in prison in 2017.
So, welcome Viet Khang to America.
Khang was arrested in 2011 for writing and recording songs, “Anh La Ai” and “Viet Nam Toi Dau”. Despite the international attention from the world, the songwriter was trial and sentenced to four years in prison with two years of probation in October 2012. His friend, Tran Vu Anh Binh, was sentenced to 6 years and 2 years probation in the same trial for “Propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”.
After serving his time, Khang was brought to the U.S. on February 8, 2018, thanks to the Vietnamese community and help from the government (particularly Senator John McCain and lawyer Shu Ming).
Most of this struggle is well documented by Vietnamese-language television SBTN.
Now that Khang is in the United States, Khang can breathe a sigh of relief. There’s no fear of imprisonment for singing or writing songs. This is a small victory, but we have to remember that some countries, like China, can imprison writers, who criticize the government. For example, poet and critic Liu Xiaobo, who was arrested in 2008 and died in prison in 2017.
So, welcome Viet Khang to America.
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