A second screening of a documentary featuring Mother Mushroom, the Vietnamese blogger sentenced in 2017 to ten years in jail after publicising the environmental devastation caused by a toxic leak from a steel plant, was cancelled on Wednesday afternoon after a complaint from the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok.
The complaint was followed by a police visit to the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT), where was the film was to be screened for the second time on Wednesday evening.
The documentary, When Mother’s Away, is described as exploring “the themes of family and motherhood in a changing Vietnam” and actually concerns the relationship of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, the journalist known as “Mother Mushroom”, with her own mother.
“Following a complaint from the Vietnamese embassy, tonight’s repeat showing of When Mother’s Away has been cancelled,” said the FCCT in a statement. “The letter requesting this was issued this morning by Lumpini Police Station and followed up by a visit to the club by a police colonel from Special Branch. It appears the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not consulted on this course of action.”
#MotherMushroom has been imprisoned for 262 days. Her trial is tomorrow—the charges should be dropped and she should be released immediately pic.twitter.com/NSj2RuLwYf
— CPJ Asia (@CPJAsia) June 28, 2017
