Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh

In September 2009, Quynh was arrested for 10 days after posting on the Internet her opinion against the Bauxite mining project in the Central Highland and the state's policy towards China, being accused of "infringing upon national security." She was released as the police determined that her actions were not "serious enough" to press charge against her.

Quynh was arrested in Khanh Hoa province on October 10, 2016, for spreading "propaganda against the state," and was in incommunicado pre-trial detention until her trial on June 29, 2017. Quynh was sentenced to ten years in prison in a one-day trial. The trial was brief, secretive and guarded, continuing a pattern of trials in recent years with few or no outside press, family, or community members allowed. Her mother was barred from attending the trial.

An appeal court in Khanh Hoa province upheld her ten-year prison sentence on November 30, 2017. Quynh admitted to her activities but defended her right to free speech and maintained her innocence. Following the usual pattern for trials of activists charged under "national security" provisions, the trial was secretive and short, lasting only three hours. Supporters were prohibited from entering the courtroom, and after protesting the decision outside of the courthouse, many supporters were violently dispersed by pro-government thugs. Quynh's mother had written to EU representatives earlier in the week, urging them to attend the trial, since Vietnamese trials of activists are frequently touted as being open. One of Quynh's defense lawyers, Vo An Don, was disbarred just days before the trial.

October 2017:

Authorities made it extremely difficult for her mother to visit her in prison, and Quynh was suffering from a hand issue.

Quynh was in poor health overall, and her mother’s requests to send vitamin supplements to Quynh were denied. According to her mother, in an October 2017 visit, Quynh looked pale and weak. She had not been able to sleep at night as she had cramps due to the cold weather. Her mother brought in a sealed bottle of Calcium and D3 for Quynh but the prison authorities refused, giving the reason that “there’s no doctor’s prescription.” Her request to send Quynh a Bible was also denied because, as the authorities explained, apart from “The People,” the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam, no other books or magazines are allowed in prison.

February 2018:

Mother Mushroom was transferred from Khanh Hoa in southern Vietnam the the northern province of Thanh Hoa. She was moved to Prison no. 5, which is notorious for its poor conditions. Her mother only found out about the transfer after attempting to visit Quynh. She had visited Quynh only a week prior as well, and the authorities made no mention of an upcoming transfer. This transfer put a strain on Quynh's already difficult family situation. The 88 Project considers this transfer a cruel emotional tactic, meant to isolate Quynh further from her family and support system. 

July 2018:

Quynh ended her hunger strike after sixteen days. From July 6-July 23, Quynh was striking against inhuman prison conditions. She ended her strike after a visit from a US embassy representative.

September 2018:

On September 26, 2018, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan, the mother of Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, visited her at Detention Centre 5, Yen Dinh District, Thanh Hoa province and updated Quynh's supporters that she had not recovered from her 16-day hunger strike, which ended on July 23. At the visit, Quynh was thin, with her hair was falling down and her complexion dull. On September 19, Quynh made a phone call to her mother and reported that her cellmate was still harassing her. However, in the meeting on September 26, she informed her mother that the female prisoner had gradually changed her behavior and was no longer harassing her as before. 

October 2018: 

Mother Mushroom and her children on the plane after her sudden release from prison on October 17. Source: Vietnam Bloggers Network

After over two years in prison in Vietnam, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was suddenly released from prison on October 17 and sent immediately into exile in the United States. She was accompanied by her mother and two young children. Her release came as US Defense Secretary Mattis was in Vietnam for a short visit. It was later confirmed that she arrived safely in the US, where she's vowed to continue her work.

Quynh gave an interview in which she described harsh prison conditions that she faced, including a lack of privacy for female prisoners and multiple hunger strikes, the longest being 16 days. While she believes her release coincided with Mattis's visit to Vietnam, she denied the claim that Vietnam is softening its stance on political prisoners. Release in exchange for exile in a common tactic used by the Vietnamese government, such as in the cases of human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai and blogger Dieu Cay.

In her letter written on October 19, Quynh gave thanks to those who were concerned about her and helped her to obtain this freedom. She acknowledged the heavy sentences handed to dissidents, including Tran Thi Nga, and looked back at the pictures of the police searching and confiscating her banners from Formosa protests. She called for people to continue fighting freedom in Vietnam.

Prior to arrest: healthy

October 2017:

According to her mother, in an October 2017 visit, Quynh looked pale and weak. She had not been able to sleep at night as she had cramps due to the cold weather. Her fingers curled up on one hand. The authorities denied some supplies from her family, including vitamin supplements and the Bible.

December 2017:

Quynh’s defense counsels, after meeting with her in preparation for the appeal trial, also reported that Quynh suffered from headaches and could not sleep as a result.

February 2018:

June 2018:

Quynh was currently enduring extremely difficult conditions in prison, described as “mental torture,” enduring near-constant berating from a cellmate. She feared for her life, and prison authorities had denied her requests to meet with them.

December 2016:

Quynhs’ mother, Ms. Nguyen Tuyet Lan, wrote a letter in December 2016 thanking Quynh's supporters.

February 2017:

Five UN Special Rapporteurs sent a letter to the Vietnamese government questioning Quynh's arrest and detention and seeking more details around the circumstances of both and their legal justifications. They wrote:

"While we do not wish to prejudge the accuracy of these allegations, we express
grave concern about the alleged arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention of Ms.
Quynh, as well as about her physical and mental integrity. We express equal concern that
the charges brought against her through repressive legislation represent a criminalisation
of her rights to freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and
association. We furthermore express concern at the violations of her rights to due process,
in particular the incommunicado detention, the denial of her right to a legal counsel and
the prohibition to receive visits from her family. We are deeply concerned that Ms.
Quynh appears to have been a victim of repetitive and systematic harassment and assaults
by Government authorities for almost eight years, and she is now detained for a
prolonged period incommunicado. All the above mentioned violations of her rights seem
to be directly linked to her activities as an environmental human rights defender and the
legitimate exercise of her fundamental rights."

The government did not respond to the letter. 

June 2017:

Quynh's detention was deemed arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Three UN Special Rapporteurs sent a letter to the Vietnamese government lamenting Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh's arbitrary detention and the physical attacks and interferences with her peaceful environmental work over the years preceding her arrest. They asked for more information justifying her detention and surrounding the allegations of her mistreatment and for additional information on protections provided for peaceful human rights defenders in the country. 

July 2017:

Amnesty International issued an Urgent Action for Quynh to call on the Vietnamese authorities to ensure that she has access to adequate medical care.

September 2017:

Quynh was one of the focus cases of the VOICE UPR campaign in late 2017.

October 2017:

Quynh's 11-year-old daughter wrote a letter to the First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump, asking for her assistance in releasing her mother from prison on the occasion of the first family’s trip to Vietnam for the APEC summit in November. “Please help unite my family since I know my Mom did not do anything wrong and furthermore, you were the one to give her the ‘International Women of Courage’ award,” she writes. Read the full translation of the letter here. The 11-year-old’s nickname, Nam, which means Mushroom, inspired Quynh to take the name Me Nam, or Mother Mushroom. 

A group of Western and Vietnamese scholars and experts on Vietnam issued a joint statement condemning the imprisonment of pro-democracy bloggers Quynh and Tran Thi Nga (serving nine years in prison). The statement’s signatories include scholars from leading universities in Australia, Canada, France, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The signatories focused on the two imprisoned Vietnamese women because of “their lengthy sentences,” their modest “offenses,” and the fact that their young children “desperately need them at home.”

Civil Rights Defenders also released a statement calling on Cambodia, Burma, and Vietnam to end their crimes against and repression of journalists in those countries, citing the lengthy prison sentences given to citizen journalists Tran Thi Nga, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, and Nguyen Van Oai in 2017 in Vietnam. They also released a statement on the one-year anniversary of her arrest calling for her unconditional release.

Ted Osius, former US Ambassador to Vietnam, told Reuters that the administration had advocated for Quynh’s release, and the release of other prisoners of conscience, recently and on multiple occasions.

November 2017:

November 15 marked the Day of the Imprisoned Writer. PEN International highlighted Mother Mushroom’s case, believing “that Me Nam is being targeted for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of expression.” PEN also encouraged supporters to take action for Quynh, calling for her immediate release.

After her appeal was denied, several international human rights organizations and government officials, including the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to Vietnam Caryn McClelland, condemned the decision. Ahead of the EU-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue on December 1, the Head of the Delegation of the EU to Vietnam spoke out against the upholding of Quynh's sentence.

February 2018:

Vietnam Arrests Mother Mushroom, a Top Blogger, for Criticizing Government, The New York Times, October 11, 2016 

Urgent Action: Ten years in prison for human rights defender Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Amnesty International, July 12, 2017 

Viet Nam: Further Information: Health fears for relocated jailed activist: Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh, Amnesty International, February 28, 2018

Vietnam Blogger 'Mother Mushroom' Fears Death in Prison, Radio Free Asia, June 27, 2018

Jailed Vietnamese Blogger Mother Mushroom Said to Have Ended Hunger Strike, Radio Free Asia, July 27, 2018

Mother Mushroom, Vietnamese Activist, Is Said to Be Released, The New York Times, October 17, 2018

Mother Mushroom: Vietnam dissident and blogger arrives in US, The Guardian, October 17, 2018

Vietnam dissident 'Mother Mushroom' describes prison hunger strikes, Reuters, October 19, 2018