Vietnamese blogger’s mother sets herself on fire as daughter faces trial

Mother of Ta Phong Tan, a former police officer who writes about social justice, dies of her injuries in hospital in Ho Chi Minh City

The mother of a prominent Vietnamese blogger has died after setting herself on fire as her daughter prepares to go on trial next week.

A police officer in the southern province of Bac Lieu said Dang Thi Kim Lieng, 64, died on Monday afternoon on the way to hospital in Ho Chi Minh City after setting herself alight that morning near her home.

Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for Human Rights Watch, said Lieng’s death “points to some very, very serious concerns about the kind of harassment” that relatives of dissidents face in Vietnam.

Her daughter, Ta Phong Tan, is a former police officer who wrote Cong Ly va Su That (Justice and Truth), a blog that addressed social justice issues. She was arrested last September on charges of conducting propaganda against the state.

Lawyer Ha Huy Son said Tan and two other bloggers were scheduled to be put on trial in August. All three belong to the outlawed Free Vietnamese Journalists’ Club, and stand accused of posting and writing hundreds of articles that “distorted and opposed” the communist government.

If convicted, the three face up to 20 years in prison.

Pictured: Tan Phong Tan, in an image released by the dissident blog Dalambao, which is based outside Vietnam. Photograph: Danlambao/AFP/Getty Images