Journalist Nguyen Vu Binh was freed on June 9 after nearly five years in prison. CPJ and other international organizations had appealed for Binh's release based on his deteriorating health. The release was announced as part of an amnesty orchestrated by Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet prior to a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush. According to state media reports, Binh was jailed because he had "written and exchanged, with various opportunist elements in the country, information and materials that distorted the party and state policies." He was also accused of communicating with "reactionary" organizations abroad. Binh had worked for almost 10 years at the official publication Tap Chi Cong San (Journal of Communism).

Authorities detained French journalist Nguyen Thi Thanh Van and three activists with the pro-democracy Viet Tan party for nearly four weeks. She and the others were arrested by security officials during a meeting with local democracy activists at a private residence in Ho Chi Minh City, according to a source associated with the Viet Tan party. The four were released on December 12 after international protests. Thanh Van, also known by her pen name Thanh Thao, is a journalist for the exile-run monthly Viet Nam Dan Chu (Vietnam Democracy) and a regular contributor to the Japan- and U.S.-based "Chan Troi Moi" (Radio New Horizon) program. She and the political activists had been held on terrorism-related charges.

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