Nguyen Van Hoa

Ha Tinh police arrested Nguyen Van Hoa on January 11, 2017, on the streets, accusing him of “motorbike theft and drug dealership.”  His family only received the temporary detention notice from the authorities on January 23, in which Ha Tinh police informed them that he was being detained under Article 258 of the 1999 Penal Code for “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State and the rights and legitimate interests of organizations and citizens.”

The authorities did not officially announce Hoa’s arrest until April 6, 2017. He was held in pre-trial detention at Cau Dong prison, Ha Tinh province.

On June 15, 2017, the authorities formally changed his charges from Art. 258 to Art. 88 (“propaganda against the socialist state”). In the same month, his family was informed that Hoa refused to have a defense lawyer.

On November 27, 2017, in a secret trial, Hoa was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment and three years of probation. Neither a defense lawyer nor his family was present at the trial. State-owned media, citing the indictment against Nguyen Van Hoa, stated the accusation as follow: “Since 2013, Nguyen Van Hoa has created the Facebook page Nguyễn Văn Hóa (Maria Luygonjaga) in order to share and distribute articles, videos, and images with content that incites, distorts the truth, and propagates reactionary arguments against the directives and policies of the Party and the State. The goal was to incite people to gather and protest the enviromental issue at sea and the flooding in Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh.”

February 2018:

Nguyen Van Hoa was transferred to An Diem prison, located in Dai Loc district of the central province of Quang Nam, approximately 500 km away from his native Ha Tinh Province. It is becoming increasingly common for Vietnamese authorities to transfer prisoners to facilities far from their families, making it difficult for them to visit the detainees. 

August 2018:

Nguyen Van Hoa was beaten and forced into giving testimony used against environmental activist Le Dinh Luong in court, The Committee to Protect Journalists reported. Hoa later recanted on the witness stand, saying the statements were made under duress of the assault. Luong, however, was still sentenced to 20 years in prison. Both activists had been involved with activism after the Formosa environmental disaster. There is also a report that imprisoned founder of the Vietnam Republic Party, Nguyen Viet Dung, was coerced into giving false testimony as well, which he also later recanted, separately from Hoa. Luong's lawyers were not allowed to meet with either witness. After Dung recanted, his family was denied a visit with him in prison.

October 2018:

Nguyen Van Hoa sent a letter to his family on October 19, 2018, detailing systemic abuse by multiple parties during his investigation and time sentenced in prison. For example, the supervisor of the detention center in Nghe An province beat Hoa in the isolation room at court during the first instance court hearing of Le Dinh Luong in Nghe An Province on August 16, 2018. In this trial, the authorities wanted to use Hoa (and Nguyen Viet Dung) to oppose Le Dinh Luong and build a case against him. However, both of them advocated for Luong. Therefore, Hoa was pulled into the isolation room and beaten for not cooperating. The court then prohibited him from being a witness, saying that the “witness got a stomach ache."
In addition, Hoa’s leg had a tumor but the detention center only checked it without providing any treatment. He submitted an application, asking for treatment, but it was not accepted. Moreover, he alleged that two investigators from Ha Tinh Province took illegal actions when interrogating and investigating him about incidents he wasn't involved with, and they threatened he would be prosecuted in other cases if he did not cooperate with the questioning. Also, the Investigation Agency of Ha Tinh province did not deactivate his Facebook account during their investigation of him but instead used it to carry out illegal actions.  

November 2018:

On November 24, Nguyen Van Hoa's family received a letter written from Hoa at An Diem Detention Center on November 1. In the letter, Hoa said that he would continue to denounce the Deputy Supervisor of the detention center for beating him harshly when Hoa, along with Nguyen Viet Dung, was forced to act as a witness in the trial of Le Dinh Luong on August 16, 2018. At the time of the writing, Hoa did not know that the Deputy Supervisor of the detention center had recently passed away because of an accident. He also encouraged his family to not worry about him because seven years in prison will be nothing to him. He wrote that he can overcome anything because freedom is not free and he is willing to accept sacrifices in exchange for freedom.

February 2019:

Nguyen Van Hoa was on a hunger strike, as reported by Hoa's sister. Hoa is held at An Diem Detention Center and wanted to meet with a priest. He began the strike on February 22. Hoa's sister released a letter, which elaborated on the reasons for the hunger strike, including authorities' refusal to send Hoa's complaint letter regarding the abuse he suffered while being detained. The letter, written February 11, 2019, denounced eight officers who kidnapped Hoa on January 11, 2017 and detained him in Hong Linh Town for nine days. During that time, Hoa was beaten and confessed under duress. In the trial against Le Dinh Luong in August 2018, Hoa was summoned as a witness and was again tortured after refusing to testify against Luong. 

March 2019:

Nguyen Van Hoa stopped his hunger strike in March, after 12 days on strike. He originally started the strike to protest abuses against him in custody. It is unknown if the authorities have acted to remedy his grievances. In a letter home, Hoa revealed that other political prisoners helped him through the strike, and he was supported by a US diplomat based in Hanoi. 

May 2019:

On May 13, 2019, political prisoner Hoang Duc Binh, held in An Diem Detention Center, the same place as Nguyen Van Hoa, called his family and revealed that detention officers gripped Hoa’s neck and beat him harshly. On May 14, Hoa’s family went to visit Hoa. However, the detention center just informed them that Hoa had been punished and was not allowed to meet with them. Hoa was reported to be in solitary confinement. 

On May 23, Hoang Duc Binh’s family went to visit him at An Diem Detention Center, Quang Nam province. Binh was in very poor health due to being on hunger strike. Binh, political prisoner Nguyen Bac Truyen, and other prisoners started a hunger strike on May 12 to protest against the detention center torturing fellow prisoner Nguyen Van Hoa. On May 12, 2019, a detention center officer at An Diem forced Hoa to sign a report with many blank spaces. Hoa revealed to other prisoners that he refused to sign because the authorities could later fill those blank spaces with false content to punish him. After that, public security forces and detention officers beat him harshly, causing bruises, and took him away without an official punishment decision. 

Late May 2019:

According to an update from Nguyen Van Hoa’s sister, who went to visit him at An Diem Detention Center on May 28, 2019, Hoa’s health was fine in spite of being beaten and held in solitary confinement for ten days. He was released but would still have to be isolated in one room at camp K1 for the next six months. Authorities isolated Hoa due to his complaints against them for not sending home letters on prison conditions and treatment. As of May 27, there was one prisoner who stopped his hunger strike, while political prisoners Hoang Duc Binh and Nguyen Bac Truyen, as well as one other, kept striking in solidarity with Hoa, Hoa said. Those striking were said to be unaware of Hoa's condition.

September 2019:

On September 14, 2019, Hoang Nguyen, brother of political prisoner Hoang Duc Binh, visited Binh in prison. According to Nguyen’s post on Facebook, Binh’s health had been stable, and they were happy to hear about Nguyen Van Hoa, who was in the same prison as Binh and was returned to the main prison after spending four months in solitary confinement. Hoa completed his punishment of solitary confinement on September 14, 2019.

On May 13, 2019, Binh had called his family and revealed that detention officers had gripped Hoa’s neck and beat him harshly. On May 14, Hoa’s family went to visit him. However, the detention center informed them that Hoa had been punished and was not allowed to meet with them. 

***

On September 20, 2019, Nguyen Thi Hue, Nguyen Van Hoa's sister, reported that prison authorities threatened Hoa that they would cut the tendons in his legs back in July 2019 while he was in solitary confinement. Hue also reported that during his four months of confinement, he wasn’t allowed to go outside and was also put under camera surveillance. Hoa asked embassies and international organizations to visit political prisoners to understand more about their lives in prison. 

October 2020:

Nguyen Van Hoa’s sister went to An Diem Prison to see Hoa and give him some items. She was told that she couldn't see him or give him anything because Hoa had been refusing to wear prison clothes. He also recently wrote a petition asking to be transferred to a prison camp that is closer to his home. 

December 2020:

Nguyen Van Hoa ended his hunger strike after eight days. Truyen and Diep also ended their hunger strike. The three reportedly resumed eating after their demands were approved by the prison administration, though it is unclear exactly what those demands were.

The three political prisoners were on a hunger strike at An Diem Prison since at least November 20. On November 26, Hoa’s sister visited him and reported that her brother looked pale and weak and had been on a hunger strike for seven days. They were protesting violations of their human rights, such as not being allowed to send or receive letters, not being given adequate healthcare, and being transferred to prisons far from their hometowns, causing hardship for their families. All their requests had been ignored by the authorities, even Truyen’s 2019 petition for a medical examination.

July 2021:

Nguyen Van Hoa’s sister said her brother was shackled and put in solitary confinement from June 26 until July 1. Hoa had gone on a hunger strike for five days to protest. She alleged that prison authorities wanted to punish Hoa for the 11 petitions that he sent out to complain about ill-treatment and violations by prison staff.

March 2022:

On March 2, 2022, Hoa's sister received his letter saying that he is doing fine. Nguyen Van Hoa could not write more in details because as if he did so, the letter would not be sent out. There had not been any visitation yet due to the Covid concerns.

March 2023:

Nguyen Van Hoa’s health was stable, his older sister Nguyen Thi Hue reported to Project88 on March 12. She said that since the pandemic, Hoa has only been allowed to call home once every 2-3 months, instead of once a month as before. Police have “reminded” her a few times not to post too much information about Hoa’s incarceration on Facebook.

February 2017

Amnesty International issued an Urgent Action, calling on Vietnam to release Hoa and two other human rights defenders, Tran Thi Nga and Nguyen Van Oai, unconditionally and immediately.

May 2017

On May 3, World Press Freedom Day, human rights and digital security organizations issued a joint letter, calling on Vietnam to free young citizen journalist Nguyễn Văn Hóa, who was arrested in January under Art. 88. “With mounting social and environmental challenges, the government of Vietnam should welcome transparency and peaceful dialogue. Repressing citizen journalists is not only a violation of human rights but also a major impediment to Vietnam’s aspirations to become a tech and innovation hub,” the statement said.

November 2017:

Front Line Defenders released an Urgent Appeal for Nguyen Van Hoa, calling on authorities to immediately release him from prison. Download the pdf appeal, here.

February 2018:

Vietnamese Political Prisoners Endure Medical Difficulties, Radio Free Asia, March 6, 2019

Jailed Vietnamese Activist Nguyen Van Hoa Ends Hunger Strike, Radio Free Asia, March 26, 2019

Amnesty International Condemns ‘Torture’ of Jailed RFA Blogger in Vietnam, Radio Free Asia, May 24, 2019

URGENT ACTION: PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE TORTURED TO CONFESS (VIET NAM: UA 72.19), Amnesty International, May 24, 2019

US Lawmakers Urge Greater Push For Vietnam Press Freedoms, Radio Free Asia, May 29, 2019

Detained Vietnamese Activist Comes out of Solitary Confinement after Four Months, Radio Free Asia, September 16, 2019

Vietnam Court Rejects Bloggers’ Appeals, Sends Them Back to Prison, Radio Free Asia, September 23, 2019

US Lawmaker ‘Adopts’ Jailed Vietnamese Journalist as Prisoner of Conscience, Radio Free Asia, September 25, 2020

Vietnam Human Rights Award 2020 Winners Announced, Vietnam Human Rights Network, November 21, 2020

Support Imprisoned Blogger Nguyen Van Hoa: Press for his release from prison, The 88 Project, November 29, 2020

Vietnamese prisoners of conscience on hunger strike, CSW, November 27, 2020