Vietnam Free Expression Newsletter No. 4/2024 – Week of Jan. 18-25

Dang Dinh Bach

Jan. 24 marked two years since climate leader Dang Dinh Bach was convicted of “tax evasion” and sentenced to five years in prison. His wife, Tran Phuong Thao, told Project88 that Bach still cannot buy hot water at the canteen to cook instant noodles, so he’s been eating them with cold water, along with other dried foods like cereal. She has been sending him 5 kg of supplies each month per prison regulations. Even though Bach would also like to read, Thao has chosen not to send him any books in order to maximize the amount of food he can receive. At the last visit on Jan. 15, Bach’s health appeared to have improved and his spirits were up. He told Thao that he has been practicing yoga to stay healthy even though prison conditions have not changed.

Nguyen Thuy Hanh

Imprisoned human rights defender Nguyen Thuy Hanh is believed to have been diagnosed with stage 2 cervical cancer, according to a Facebook post by her husband, Huynh Ngoc Chenh. Since April 2022, Hanh has been kept at the Central Psychiatric Hospital in Hanoi, where she is being treated for clinical depression. He believes the lack of sanitation and clean water might be a contributing factor to her illness. According to Chenh, Hanh has not been given any radiation therapy due to the long waiting list. He is asking the international community to intervene so that Hanh can get proper medical treatment. This is a developing story.

Phan Van Bach, arrested on Dec. 29 last year without charges, was finally charged on Jan 19 with “anti-state propaganda,” according to state media. No reason was given for the delay and no further details were provided. Bach is a former member of the independent news channel Chan Hung TV on Youtube. His activism includes protests against China in 2011, for green trees in 2015, and against the Formosa disaster in 2016.

Huynh Minh Tam

Recently released political prisoner Huynh Thi To Nga visited her brother Huynh Minh Tam at Gia Trung Prison and reported on Jan. 22 that Tam’s health is stable even though he looked very gaunt and skinny. He still was kept in a cell by himself, with a security camera. Tam said he covered up the camera with tape but was not reprimanded by the warden. The visit lasted only one hour, but the roundtrip journey took Nga 30 hours. However, Nga said Gia Trung actually allows prisoners to receive more monthly supplies than the 7 kg she was allowed to receive at An Diem Prison. Tam told Nga that political prisoner Truong Van Dung had just been transferred to Gia Trung and put in a cell next to his, alone.

Truong Van Dung

Truong Van Dung is allegedly under a one-month disciplinary solitary confinement for arguing with prison officials. Luu Van Vinh, a fellow prisoner, told his wife Nguyen Thi Thap over the phone on Jan. 22 that Dung asked him to tell his family the news. During this time in disciplinary confinement, Dung will not be allowed to buy food from the canteen, receive mail or supplies, nor have visits from the family until Feb. 16. Vinh said Dung and officials got into an argument when the package sent by his family was carelessly torn open by guards not wearing gloves and the contents spilled all over the floor. He also loudly protested when they did not let him keep a photo because it had the “Viet Tan” logo in it.

Le Trong Hung

Le Trong Hung’s wife, Do Le Na, verified in a call home on Jan. 15 that prison officials never did send her his letters. Also, two government officials from Hanoi went to the prison and talked to Hung about his wife’s posts on Facebook. They told him she was posting false information about the government, particularly about unidentified men posted around his home monitoring his family. Hung asked them to let his wife come to the prison so they could verify these allegations together. As of now, they have not done so.

A court in Khanh Hoa Province has sentenced a man to 14 years in prison for attempting to overthrow the government, based on Article 109 of the Criminal Code. Nguyen Van Uot (b. 1992) was accused of joining the Vietnam New Democratic Movement based in the United States, which is led by Dao Minh Quan, who calls himself the 3rd president of the Third Republic of Vietnam (a self-installed government-in-exile). In 2022, Quan claimed he was emperor of a new Vietnamese monarchy. Uot is said to have had a secret identity within the organization and posted articles denouncing the government. State media calls the group a terrorist organization but prosecutors did not accuse Uot himself of any terrorist acts.

Political prisoner Nguyen Nhu Phuong told his mother during a recent visit that in November last year he was beaten by guards at a detention center in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province to the point that he coughed up blood. Phuong’s mother told RFA this week that the incident occurred after he complained about not receiving the shirts that were listed on the package his family had sent him. When Phuong’s mother confronted prison officials about this, they allegedly admitted that the beating did indeed occur, but asked her not to make a big deal about it. Phuong was a member of the No-U movement that opposes the Chinese nine-dash line. He was convicted of “anti-state propaganda” in 2022 and is serving a five-year sentence.

Journalist Han Ni has been charged with “abusing democratic freedoms” for her articles allegedly exposing wrongdoings by business tycoon Nguyen Phuong Hang. Hang was convicted in September 2023 and sentenced to three years in prison also for “abusing democratic freedoms” based on Article 331. Before her arrest, Phuong Hang sued Han Ni, accusing her of penning falsehoods that caused damages to the Dai Nam conglomerate of which Hang was chairwoman and CEO. For her part, Han Ni said all the information she used came from state media sources. It is not unusual for some civil lawsuits in Vietnam to be treated as criminal cases, especially if they involve large corporations that by default have deep connections with the ruling party.

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