Vietnamese Political Prisoner 'Seriously Ill'

Written by Editor4

ASEAN-NEWS, VIETNAM-The health of one of Vietnam’s longest-held political prisoners is deteriorating rapidly and he is seeking medical parole, his daughter said Monday, raising concerns about inadequate medical care in the prison. Poet Nguyen Huu Cau, 66, who is serving a life sentence for “sabotage” over his writings that exposed corruption by ruling Communist Party officials, is nearly blind and mostly deaf, and is complaining of low blood flow to the brain while he suffers from a heart condition. Cau’s daughter Nguyen Thi Anh Thu, who visited him at the Z30A Xuan Loc prison camp in Dong Nai province on Saturday after prison officials called to notify her of his worsening condition, said his health was failing. “My father is very weak. He said he has low cerebral blood flow, and because of it he has been fainting frequently over the past ten days,” Thu told RFA’s Vietnamese Service after the visit to the prison, which is one of Vietnam’s main facilities for political prisoners. “He said he feels very ill. He could not talk much and he had to pause a lot in conversation to catch his breath, and I saw that his walk was weak too,” said Thu, who had also visited her father earlier this month. Cau told her the quality of care at the prison clinic was poor and asked her to submit a request for medical parole so that he could receive treatment elsewhere. “He said the doctors there are not good,” Thu said. “Even though I have very slim hope, I will still try my best so that he can receive treatment outside, because I feel so sad to see him in this situation.” (AN-80/RFA) Source: http://asean-news.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2629:vietnamese-political-prisoner-seriously-ill&catid=94:vietnam-national&Itemid=539

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