Nguyen Huu Quoc Duy
Nguyễn Hữu Quốc Duy
Detainment Type: Released - at risk
Other Names: Nguyễn Hữu Quốc Duy
Date of Birth: 1985
Gender: M
Ethnicity: Kinh
Known Prison(s):
An Diem prison, Dai Loc district, Quang Nam province (August 23, 2016 - November 28, 2018)
Activist Focus:
- Freedom of expression
- Press
Details
Immediate Concerns
December 2018:
On December 1, Nguyen Huu Quoc Duy gave an interview to Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (Me Nam) about his time in prison. He revealed that he was frequently tortured by detention officials, causing his prolonged anemia. In his first instance trial, he was not allowed to meet with his defense counsel. They also applied different punishments to him when he violated any regulations in prison. His most terrible memory was the period of 20 days, from October 5 to 25, 2016, after he pretended to beat his cellmate to help that cellmate to be transferred to a more comfortable prison section. Prison officials chained his feet close to the wall and only allowed him to wear boxer shorts and eat two spoonfuls of rice and drink a small bottle of water at each meal. When he asked to meet with the detention supervisor to report discrimination against him, they tortured him with pepper spray, causing burns because he did not have a shirt to dry his skin.
November 2018:
Nguyen Huu Quoc Duy was released from prison on November 28 after serving a three-year sentence under Article 88 of the 1999 Criminal Code for his Facebook posts critical of the government.
BackgroundDuy is a college graduate with a degree in education and was working with his mother at a market prior to his arrest. He is from Khanh Hoa province.
History of ActivismDuy was arrested in November 2015 for onling postings that were critical of the Vietnamese government and for calling for the release of his cousin, Nguyen Huu Thien An, who was arrested in August 2015 for spray-painting an anti-Communist symbol. Duy was initially arrested with his cousin, then released, and later re-arrested.
Family SituationNguyen Huu Quoc Duy's mother, Nguyen Thi Nay, gave an interview to Radio Free Asia about her son's trial and sentencing, saying: "My son is innocent, but they forced the verdict on him and did not let me see him."
Sentenced to 3 years in prison under Art. 88 (1999 Code). Released November 28, 2018.
November 21, 2015
- Art 88 (1999)
Viet Nam
August 23, 2016 - Date of trial
3 years in prison
November 21, 2018
November 28, 2018
Details of Imprisonment
On August 23, 2016, Duy was sentenced to three years in prison under Article 88 of the 1999 Criminal Code in Khanh Hoa province. His appeal of his sentence was denied in December 2016. Supporters were blocked from attending the trial, and his family was not allowed in the courtroom. He had been in pre-trial detention for nine months. Nguyen Huu Thien An was sentenced to two years in prison, also under Article 88.
February 2017:
Duy was transferred to An Diem prison in Quang Nam from his native province of Khanh Hoa.
November 2018:
Duy was released from prison on November 28 after serving a three-year sentence under Article 88 of the 1999 Criminal Code for his Facebook posts critical of the government.
Actions TakenAugust 2016:
The US Embassy in Vietnam released a statement after the trial of Duy and his cousin, calling the convictions "inconsistent with the right to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly provided for in Vietnam’s Constitution, and with Vietnam’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as with other international commitments." They called for their immediate release from prison.
October 2017:
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed worries over recent arrests in Vietnam, including that of Nguyen Huu Quoc Duy, and urged the Vietnamese government to repeal Article 88 and release political prisoners.
ResourcesVietnamese Online Activist Released After Serving Three-year Sentence, Radio Free Asia, November 28, 2018
Profile last updated: 2024-06-13 20:34:03