Vietnam urged to free green activist Nguy Thi Khanh as it bids to join UN rights body

Goldman laureates raise concerns over Vietnam's record on suppressing environmental protest

More than 50 Goldman environmental prize laureates from 41 countries have written to the UN human rights council as it considers admitting Vietnam as a new member.

In the letter, which comes as the council meets for its 51st session (12 September - 7 October), the prize winners raise concerns over Vietnam's human rights record, in particular the sentencing in June of Nguy Thi Khanh, a fellow Goldman prize winner and Vietnam's best-known environmental advocate, to two years' imprisonment for alleged tax evasion.