Tran Duc Thach

According to Tran Duc Thach’s wife, at around 9 am on April 23, 2020, Nghe An provincial police went to Thach’s house with an arrest warrant. His wife reported that police had been harassing Thach for quite some time, and the police who arrested him were plainclothes officers. After they searched his house, they took him away around noon. They also confiscated many personal computers and belongings. He was charged with subversion under Article 109 of the 2015 Criminal Code. He will be held in pre-trial detention in the prison of Nghe An Police’s Department for four months.

July 2020:

Tran Duc Thach's wife, Chuong Nguyen, was allowed to see her husband on July 9, three months after his detention. She said that Thach was looking skinnier than before. They gave each other a big hug. After they talked for a while, the two were taken to separate rooms. They started to interrogate Chuong about her husband's activities. They asked her about his Facebook and if Thach belonged to any groups, but Chuong told them she was busy selling vegetables and didn't know anything about Thach's work. After the investigation, they asked about her and her family. She was surprised that they treated her well during the interrogation. 

November 2020:

More than six months after his arrest, writer Tran Duc Thach was finally allowed to meet with his lawyer, even though his investigation period had previously ended. His lawyer, Ha Huy Son, was barred from copying the indictment against Thach. Thach is suffering from high blood pressure, ulcerative colitis, and gout while in prison. 

Update, December:

The first-instance trial for Tran Duc Thach, scheduled for November 30, was canceled without warning. His family arrived at the courthouse on the day of the trial and were told he was unfit to stand trial. His wife was allowed to see her husband the next day, and he told her he had been hospitalized for a week for high blood pressure. 

The first-instance trial was rescheduled for December 15. 

December 2020:

Poet Tran Duc Thach, 69, was sentenced to 12 years in prison with three years of probation for “activities aimed at overthrowing the government.” The trial lasted less than three hours, and his wife and son were allowed in the courtroom. Thach was a member of the Brotherhood for Democracy, many of whose members have also been imprisoned. Ha Huy Son, his lawyer, argued that he was not allowed to review materials related to his client, that the prosecution violated trial procedures and failed to produce any incriminating evidence or witnesses, and that some of the charges actually predate Article 109 of the 2015 Criminal Code and therefore should be thrown out.

March 2021:

On March 19, his wife went to the detention center to bring him some food, but she was not able to see him. She said he had not been allowed to call home, so she had no way of knowing how he was doing. 

On March 24, Thach was denied the appeal of his 12-year prison term after a short “trial” in which his lawyer was not allowed to argue his case. The defendant himself was not notified about the trial until a few days before.

June 2021: 

Tran Duc Thach was transferred from Nghi Kim Detention Center in Nghe An Province to Prison Camp 5 in Thanh Hoa Province, but his wife, Nguyen Chuong, was never notified. On June 8 she drove 40 km to bring him supplies, only to be told when she got there that he’d been moved the week before. When she asked why nobody told her, they said they’d sent the information to her precinct police. She then went to the court to double check and was told the same thing. 

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Help spread the word about poet and former North Vietnamese soldier Tran Duc Thach who is serving time for “anti-state propaganda.” 

Read our translation of an original poem by Thach, entitled “Repentance,” here.