Profile

Diep Ut Tien

Diệp Út Tiền

Detainment Type: Released - at risk

No image

Other Names: Diệp Út Tiền

Date of Birth: 1994

Gender: M

Religion: Christian (Catholic)

Ethnicity: Kinh

Occupation: Factory worker

Activist Focus:

  • Freedom of expression
  • Sovereignty
  • Press

Details

Immediate Concerns

Twelve of the 15 protesters in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province, who were imprisoned for ten months after participating in the demonstrations against two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cybersecurity on June 10-11, 2018, were released from prison on the morning of April 10, 2019. 

Background

Diep Ut Tien did not go to school, and he is illiterate. He is self-employed, and his parents are workers. He is from Ke Sach District, Soc Trang Province.

Family Situation

Tien is married and has a son. His family is poor. His wife, Nguyen Thi Truc Ly, was also a defendant in this trial - she received a probation sentence of 12 months.

Sentenced to 10 months in prison under Art. 318 (2015 Code). Released April 10, 2019.

June 10, 2018
  • Art 318
Provincial/city
30/4 Park, Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province (map)
July 30, 2018 - Date of trial
10 months in prison
April 10, 2019
April 10, 2019
Details of Imprisonment

On June 10, 2018, Tien attended a large protest in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province, protesting against the Law of Special Economic Zones which is in process of review by the Vietnamese National Assembly. At the end of the day, he was arrested under the Art. 318 of the 2015 Criminal Code for "disturbing public order” along with 52 other protesters. Twenty of them were tried on July 30, 2018. In a one-day trial, judge Nguyen Quoc Thai sentenced 15 of them to sentences ranging from eight to 18 months in prison, and he gave five of them suspended sentences ranging from 12 months to 14 months. Diep Ut Tien received a sentence of 10 months in prison.

November 2018:

Fifteen protesters detained in national demonstrations over two draft laws in June and sentenced to prison terms in July appealed their sentences on November 9 in The People’s Court of Bien Hoa City. Lawyer Dang Dinh Manh reported that the defendants all asked for an acquittal of their charges of “disturbing public order” after originally just planning to ask for reductions in the sentences. They argued that they participated in demonstrations on June 10 because of their patriotism. However, the court upheld all of the sentences ranging from eight months to a year and six months.

December 2018:

Four activists were monitored by police and later attacked by pro-government thugs while attempting to visit families of some of the protesters imprisoned after the national June demonstrations in Bien Hoa. En route to Dong Nai Province, police stopped the car, and later plainclothes agents followed it and physically injured the passengers by throwing rocks into the car. The activists were forced to turn back and could not meet with the families as planned.

April 2019:

Twelve of the 15 protesters in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province, including Diep Ut Tien, were released from prison on the morning of April 10, 2019, after completing their ten-month sentences. 

Resources

Xét xử 20 đối tượng gây rối ở Đồng Nai, Công lý & Xã hội, July 31, 2018

Behind the trial sentencing 20 patriotic protesters, Saigon Broadcasting Television Network, August 2, 2018

Four Activists Brutally Attacked by Thugs During Visit to Families of Jailed Mid-June Protesters, Defend the Defenders, December 8, 2018

Conclusion of Investigation and Indictment (on file with The 88 Project). 

 

Profile last updated: 2024-06-13 20:34:04

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