Nguyen Hoai Nam

A court of appeals in Ho Chi Minh City reduced the sentence for former journalist Nguyen Hoai Nam from three and a half years to two. Nam’s work uncovering corruption within the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration eventually led to his arrest and conviction. It is almost unheard of for a political prisoner to have his or her sentence reduced by the Court of Appeals in Vietnam. In Nam’s case, the reasons given were that he had a “change in attitude,” “recognized his wrongdoings,” and because his family “contributed to the revolution.”

Nam is a journalist who currently lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City. He recently resigned from his new post at the newspaper Phap Luat, Ho Chi Minh City.

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Nguyen Hoai Nam is a famous investigative journalist with achievements recognized by both the regime (to a certain extent) and activists in Vietnam. From reporting on food safety to corruption, Nam was one of the biggest names of Thanh Nien newspaper back in the 2010s.

Nam was honored several times by the state with certificates of merit from even the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption and other journalism prizes. 

However, in 2015, Nam was forced to leave Thanh Nien and from then on he worked primarily as a contributor to many newspapers. Nam insists that the newspaper fired him because of his anti-corruption articles, while Thanh Nien accused him of not meeting the monthly quota.

His case is particularly interesting in understanding how the government draws the line between their promises to fight corruption and the nature of the actual system.