Vietnam: Nguyen Vu Binh seriously ill

From an exclusive report we received from a friend of Dr. Pham Hong Son, we have learned that Vietnam dissident Nguyen Vu Binh is seriously ill. Below is Dr. Son's report:

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Urgent Report from Hanoi on Heavily Critical Health of Journalist Nguyen Vu Binh

On 15 Feb 2007, immediately after returning from visiting journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, who has been unjustly imprisoned in Nam Ha jail, Mrs. Bui Thi Kim Ngan, Nguyen Vu Binh's wife, told us in tears:

- Nguyen Vu Binh had to hop when walking and his back had to bend due to pain.

- He could not hold up his 5- year-old daughter.

- He felt tired to talk and had to stop talking at intervals in order to rest during conversation with his family.

- He has lost much more of his weight compared to the last visit of his family. His skin color has changed and darkened.

- Besides suffering from hypertension and chronic digestive dysfunction, he has suffered from permanent back pain and angina (chest pain) for more than a month. During a medical check, a doctor performing ultra-sound to check his liver revealed accidentally "Oh, poor man, you are suffering fatty liver (cirrhosis)!" Nguyen Vu Binh asked jail officers about that but they denied it. His health has deteriorated since the last medical check (Note: before any medical checks, jail officers discussed something secretly with relevant doctors)

- He has made several requests to be medically checked at National Cardiology Institute but his requests have been refused.

- Several times Nguyen Vu Binh called for help when suffering pain in jail cell but no one came to see him.

- Nguyen Vu Binh has been isolated in a small cell in Nam Ha jail.

Reported by Pham Hong Son 22:30 15/02/2007