Bui Thanh Hieu

Immediate Concerns

Oct. 2024

Bui Thanh Hieu, a well-known political blogger living in Germany who goes by the moniker “Wind Salesman,” disappeared after he returned to Vietnam in late October to visit family. No one seemed to know where Hieu was, but it’s alleged that he was being held by Vietnamese police, according to the Facebook account Hoang Dung. After several days, Hieu finally was seen at his home.

On his Facebook page, Hieu was seen in a photo sitting with his mother at her house and walking around the neighborhood. He did not disclose any information on why he was detained or what happened during that time. However, he posted the letter he had written to the goverment asking for permission to enter Vietnam, explaining that he was willing to abide by all the rules and would not talk to any activist or write about anything political while there. Hieu told the government that he only wanted to fulfill his filial duty and was ready to accept any consequences that might result from his return.

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Vietnamese activists and journalists in Germany have been subjected to cyber attacks perpetrated by a group of suspected state-sponsored hackers from Vietnam called OceanLotus (or APT 32). The group uses techniques such as spear-phishing and watering-hole to target the expats. “Berlin-based Vietnamese blogger Bui Thanh Hieu talks of his fears that any successful malware attack on his computer could expose the identities of people in his home nation that are feeding him intelligence,” says the article about the report, which was compiled by a German broadcaster and online magazine.

Background

Hieu was born in Hanoi on February 6, 1972.  He is now living in Germany where he is writing blogs and publishing books.

Profile photo source: RFI

History of Activism

In 2005, Hieu started to write blogs to express his concerns about Vietnamese society and government. 

He was part of the first generation of bloggers and activists in Vietnam. He has reported on and provided the public with important information about the ruling party and has also advocated for democracy. Hieu was a famous writer making his name in X-Cafe and many other pro-democracy forums back in the 2000s.   

He was arrested along with activists Pham Doan Trang and Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh in 2009 and was kept in police custody for 10 days for “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State.” Hieu was distributing t-shirts with the printed words “Hoang Sa - Truong Sa belong to Vietnam.” Hoang Sa refers to the Paracel Islands and Truong Sa refers to the Spratly Islands.

In 2010, his writings were translated into German, and three years later, Hieu was awarded a full scholarship from the German government and went to Weimar, Germany, for six months to study art. 

Family Situation

Hieu lives with his son in Berlin, Germany.