Pham Van Troi

 

Pham Van Troi was arrested in 2008 and later sentenced in 2010 four years in prison under Article 88 of the 1999 Criminal Code ("propaganda against the state").

 

 

Pham Van Troi was arrested at his home in Hanoi on July 30, 2017. Also arrested, coinciding with Troi's arrest, were Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, Truong Minh Duc, and Nguyen Bac Truyen (who was assumed to be arrested after being kidnapped). Troi was charged under Article 79 of the 1999 Criminal Code for subversion. 

After his release in July 2024, Troi provided Project88 with some details of his time in jail.  Arrested on July 31, 2017, Troi was held in temporary detention center B14, in Hanoi, for nearly 12 months. In the beginning, he said he was interrogated twice a day, including Saturdays and Sundays. The sessions were recorded on video and streamed directly to other parts of the prison; sometimes he was notified of this, sometimes not. He was held in a two-person cell, each person having a 2 square-meters space. He was let out only for interrogation sessions.

On July 5, 2018, he was transferred to Nam Ha Prison, also in Hanoi. Troi was held in a four-person cell about 12 square-meters with one shared open toilet next to a bed. The cell had a camera monitor and audio recorder. The only meat they were given was pork; a lot of times it was old, discolored, and smelled. Drinking water came from a well; the water had a nasty smell. Troi and other prisoners suspect that water from this well was unfit to drink.

Troi reported he was healthy before his arrest. One year after his detention, he began to suffer from headaches, joint pain, nerve pain, an uneven heartbeat, and severe low blood pressure. He noted that many prisoners at Nam Ha prison experienced low blood pressure, even some who had high blood pressure before they were incarcerated. Troi himself had to go to the clinic several times a week due to his conditions. Twice he was sent to the Ha Nam Hospital (2021 and 2023). However, he was only examined and then sent back to prison, in handcuffs, with some medication.

Political prisoners could not possess pen or paper. They could only request these on Tuesdays, and if approved, they would be given two pieces of paper on Fridays to write one of the following approved items: letters home, formal requests, re-education activities. There were times when an approved letter or request was never sent. In fact, in the beginning of his imprisonment, none of Troi’s letters home were sent; the situation only changed after he made repeated complaints.

Troi and other prisoners also suspect that there is some strange type of device above the roof of their cell that emitted an unusual humming electrical sound, causing headaches. The sound could be clearly heard at night; they did not hear the sound during the day. The prisoners think that this noise contributed to their medical problems.

 

Authorities announced they finished investigations into several members of the Brotherhood for Democracy, a group founded by lawyer Nguyen Van Dai that was targeted with harassment and arrests during much of 2017. Authorities have recommended that Nguyen Trung Ton, Pham Van Troi, Nguyen Bac Truyen, Truong Minh Duc, and Dai and his colleague Le Thu Ha, be prosecuted. 

April 2018:

On April 5, in a one-day trial, six activists, whose backgrounds range from defending religious freedom, to environmental rights, to multi-party democracy, were sentenced to a combined 66 years in prison and 17 years of house arrest under Article 79 of the 1999 Criminal Code. Five of the activists are key members of the pro-democracy group, The Brotherhood for Democracy. All have been known to support political prisoners and their families and advocate for human rights. Pham Van Troi was sentenced to 7 years in prison and one year of house arrest.

In late April 2018, Nguyen Trung Ton, Pham Van Troi, Truong Minh Duc, and Nguyen Bac Truyen appealed their sentences.

May 2018:

Several relatives of jailed members of the Brotherhood for Democracy were prohibited from meeting with foreign diplomats. Nguyen Van Dai and Pham Van Troi’s wives were effectively placed under house arrest ahead of the meeting, and several other relatives of political prisoners were blocked from attending the meeting while in transit. A few relatives were able to meet with the diplomats and updated them on the prisoners. The meeting came just days before the bilateral US-Vietnam human rights dialogue on May 15.

June 2018:

Three Brotherhood for Democracy members – Nguyen Trung Ton, Truong Minh Duc, and Pham Van Troi– as well as religious freedom activist Nguyen Bac Truyen, had their appeals denied on June 4.

December 2020:

Writer Pham Van Troi‘s wife went to visit him on December 13, 2020. She said that Troi’s health is stable. She also said that Ho Duc Hoa, a social activist, was then on his 5th day of a hunger strike and was in poor condition.