Truong Huu Loc

Details of Imprisonment

Truong was taken into custody a day after large-scale protests against two draft bills on Cybersecurity and Special Economic Zones swept the country on June 10, 2018. Four days later, he was charged with “disruption of security” under Article 118 of the 2015 Criminal Code allegedly for livestreaming to call for protests and supplying protesters with food and water.

A week after the arrest, authorities searched his home. They also questioned his wife, Nguyen Thi Le Truc, multiple times.

January 2019:

Truong Huu Loc remained in detention months after his June 2018 arrest. He had not been able to meet with a lawyer. He met with his daughters this month for the first time since being detained.

June 2019:

On June 28, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City tried and sentenced Truong Huu Loc to eight years imprisonment under Article 118 of the 2015 Criminal Code for “disrupting security.” Loc was taken into custody a day after large-scale protests against two draft bills on Cybersecurity and Special Economic Zones swept the country on June 10, 2018. Four days later, he was charged with “disruption of security” for allegedly livestreaming to call for protests and supplying protesters with food and water. According to a fellow activist, the family only heard about Loc’s sentence from the neighbor reading the newspaper. His wife collapsed after hearing the news.

Immediate Concerns

June 2024:

Truong Huu Loc, who participated in street protests against the cybersecurity and economic zone bills in 2018 and was later sentenced to eight years in prison, was released two years early. Trung confirmed to us the same details provided to RFA, that he believes the reason he was released early is because he was going to expose corruption by prison officials, so they decided to let him out. Loc told RFA that when a prisoner is considered for early release, oftentimes they’re approached by officials for bribery to get their sentence reduced. Loc also said he had accumulated a lot of evidence of violations of criminal laws and of “savage beatings of prisoners.” After spending one year at a temporary detention center, Trung was tried on June 29, 2019, and did not have lawyers to represent him.

Resources

Two men prosecuted for disturbing social order in HCM City, Viet Nam News, June 15, 2018

Activist Truong Huu Loc Still Under Detention for 8th Month, Investigation Continues, Defend the Defenders, January 21, 2019

Man gets eight years in prison for SEZ protest violations, VN Express, June 28, 2019

Vietnamese man serving 8 years in prison released 2 years early, RFA, July 9, 2024

Interview with Truong Huu Loc, July 2024