Bui Van Thuan

About one hundred uniformed and non-uniformed police officers surrounded Thuan’s house around 8 a.m. on August 30. Dozens of vehicles were present, according to neighbors. Three men in medical protective clothing told his wife they needed to enter to do COVID testing. Once inside, they pretended to ask to use the bathroom then entered Thuan’s bedroom and handcuffed him as he was getting up. It was only then that they read the arrest warrant. They confiscated six computers, three iPads, three mobile phones, and one jar of honey.

March 2022:

Trinh Nhung, Thuan’s wife, received a summons from the Thanh Hoa Police Department in order to discuss details related to the case of Bui Van Thuan, who allegedly stored documents and “items that oppose the state” on his computer.

July 2022:

Thanh Hoa provincial police reportedly soon would finish up their investigation of Bui Van Thuan. Thuan’s wife has been summoned twice by the police who warned her not to post information about her meetings with them on her Facebook page. Investigators said Thuan would be charged with spreading “anti-state propaganda” under Article 117.

September 2022:

Thirteen months after Bui Van Thuan was arrested, the Thanh Hoa provincial police finished their investigation on September 10 and charged Thuan for online postings deemed “detrimental to the security of the nation.” Trinh Thi Nhung, Thuan’s wife, told RFA she only found out about this when she went to the prison to bring him food on September 20. Nhung said Thuan also had told the Procuracy he wanted to have a lawyer to represent him in court.

November 2022:

Facebooker Bui Van Thuan was sentenced to eight years in prison plus five years of probation by a court in Thanh Hoa Province for spreading “anti-state propaganda.” A honey seller by trade, Thuan was accused of making online commentaries critical of the Communist Party and how it dealt with the pandemic.

Although the trial was supposed to be public, only Thuan’s wife, Tran Thi Nhung, was allowed into the courtroom as a witness while the rest of his family, who had traveled from their home in Hoa Binh Province to watch the proceedings, had to stand outside the courthouse in the rain and finally returned home on the first day.  In his closing statement, Thuan maintained his innocence and said he would not appeal the verdict because he had no faith in the system.

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Earlier in the month, Trinh Thi Nhung, Thuan's wife, confirmed to The 88 Project that her husband said the indictments against him were baseless and that throughout the investigation he never admitted to violating any Vietnamese laws. Nhung said that after Thanh Hoa police completed their investigation in late September 2022, her husband was finally allowed to meet with his lawyers Dang Dinh Manh and Le Quyen.

Nhung herself had been harassed by police and was even asked to limit how much she posts on social media about her husband. She has also faced harassment by unknown people at her home and filed two complaints, even submitting video evidence of one of the incidents. The police refused to investigate.

February 2023:

Thuan's wife, Trinh Thi Nhung, said she received a 10-minute call from her husband on February 15; it was the first time she talked to Thuan since his imprisonment in August 2021.

He was transferred to Prison No. 6 in Nghe An Province one day before the Lunar New Year,  according to Nhung. Thuan told her his health was good and that he had been allowed to go outside to exercise regularly.