Spokesperson Nguyen Phuong Nga made the statement in reply to a reporter’s query relating to the Human Rights Watch’s annual report released on January 24 that Vietnam increased repressions of and the people’s rights to freedom of speech.

She stated that in Vietnam, the citizens’ rights to freedom and democracy, including the right to freedom of information, the right to freedom of expression and speech, and the right to freedom of religion and belief and non-religion and non-belief, have been stated clearly in the Constitution and laws, and the exercise of these rights is ensured in reality.

Like any other country around the world, to ensure the rules and laws of a law-governed state, any legal violation in Vietnam are handled in line with the law, Nga underlined.