Mai Phan Loi
Current Status: Sentenced to prison
Other Names: Mai Phan Lợi
Date of Birth: 1971
Gender: M
Ethnicity: Kinh
Occupation: Journalist
Areas of Activism:
- Press
August 2022:
At his appeal trial, Mai Phan Loi had his sentence reduced from 48 months to 45 months. The former chairman of the Committee for Scientific Affairs of the Center for Media in Educating Community (MEC) was convicted of tax evasion. He’s said to have returned about $50,000 of the $80,000 in taxes owed.
According to the wife of political prisoner Dang Dinh Bach, the appeal trials of Mai Phan Loi and Bach Hung Duong were originally scheduled for May 2022 but postponed.
January 2022:
Mai Phan Loi, founder and director of the nonprofit Center for Media in Educating Community (MEC), was sentenced to four years in prison on “tax fraud” charges on January 11. He was also ordered to pay a fine of nearly 2 billion dong ($90K USD).
Additionally, Loi faced a “ban of undertaking managerial positions, and will be prevented from practice or work in the field of taxation within a period of five years after his release."
Noticeably, the State media reported that Loi’s family had paid a compensation of VND 800 million (~US$ 35.600) prior to the trial. So they are responsible to repay the balance of VND 1,2 billion (~US$ 52.400) thereafter. Moreover, it was announced that Loi’s alleged crime partner, Bach Hung Duong, from 2014 to 2021, had supported Loi in evading more than VND 878 million (~US$ 39.000) from financial contributions worth nearly VND 20 billion (~US$ 840.000) that the MEC had received from domestic and foreign donors.
Details - Background, History of Activism.
Mai Phan Loi is from Thai Binh Province. He lives and works in Ha Noi. He is the founder and director of the nonprofit Center for Media in Educating Community (MEC) in Hanoi [5]. MEC has a communication channel called GTV which airs, among other things, several popular talk shows aimed at educating the community on various communication skills and techniques.
Loi was also editor-in-chief of Phap Luat, the most prominent state-run magazine focusing on the law. In 2016, he even got to meet former President Barack Obama in Hanoi. Shortly thereafter, however, his journalist credentials were revoked by the Ministry of Information and he had to resign from his position. The US State Department’s Human Rights Report for that year alleged that Loi’s forced removal was in part a retaliation for his meeting with the US president.
Loi is also the founder and the administrator of the famous Facebook group - Young Journalist Forum.
Profile picture: Mai Phan Loi at the time of his arrest. Source: Public Security of Ha Noi
Loi was not known for his political activism. However, he is well-known as a leading journalist with many years of experience and his liberal outlook and position.
On November 8, 2021, the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) declared that the MEC was dissolved. On November 30, 2021, the Ministry of Science and Technology signed a decision to disband the registration certificate in the field of science and technology of MEC.
Note: Loi was originally sentenced to 48 months in prison, which was reduced to 45 on appeal.
Ông Mai Phan Lợi bị bắt tạm giam về tội trốn thuế, Tuoi Tre Online, July 02, 2021
July Arrests Mark Turn for The Worse, The 88 Project, July 10, 2021
Ông Mai Phan Lợi bị khởi tố, bắt tạm giam về hành vi trốn thuế, Thanh Nien Online, July 02 2021
Ông Mai Phan Lợi bị bắt về tội trốn thuế, Nguoi Lao Dong, July 02, 2021
Ông Mai Phan Lợi bị khởi tố, VNExpress, July 02, 2021
Independent Vietnamese journalist arrested on trumped-up tax charge, RSF, July 8, 2021
Arrested June 24, 2021. Sentenced to 3 years 9 months in prison under Art. 200 (2015 Code). Expected Release is June 24, 2025.
January 11, 2022
The People's Court of Hanoi, Hanoi
3 years 9 months in prison
June 24, 2025
- freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention
- liberty and security of the person
- fair trial
Reporters Without Borders
Mai Phan Loi, founder and director of the nonprofit Center for Media in Educating Community (MEC), was sentenced to four years in prison on “tax fraud” charges on January 11, 2022. He was also ordered to pay a fine of nearly 2 billion dong ($90K USD).
June & July 2021:
Mai Phan Loi was temporarily detained on June 24 but was not officially charged and arrested until July 2. As announced by the public security, they charged him with tax evasion, a typical method of political persecution for those for whom the government does not have a strong, clear case. However, there are now several theories concerning the political reason behind his arrest.
First and foremost, Loi may have been arrested in the prolonged campaign against freedom of the press and freedom of expression instigated by the Vietnamese Communist Party.
He is the founder of the non-profit Media in Educating Community and the 30,000 member groups called the Young Journalists Forum. These organizations have been recognized as forces promoting free and critical thinking. In 2016, he was stripped of his press card for making an online survey about the crash of a military Casa 212 and other related military incidents. The growing civil space that he tried to create may have led to the crackdown against him.
Others, however, believe that his arrest might be connected with Loi’s attempts to build up a connection of NGOs under the regulation of EVFTA. These organizations can play an important role in monitoring Vietnam’s obligations under EVFTA. Read our analysis here.
July 2021:
Reporters Without Borders has called for the immediate release of Mai Phan Loi on what Daniel Bastard, head of the RSF Asia-Pacific desk, calls a “trumped-up charge” and “a pretext to silence a journalist who tried to do his job to inform his fellow citizens properly.”
August 2022:
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) urges international rights groups to oppose the arrest and conviction of environmental NGO leaders using vague “tax evasion” charges. The FIDH “strongly condemns the unfair convictions, ongoing arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Dang Dinh Bach, Mai Phan Loi, Bach Hung Duong and Nguy Thi Khanh, as it seems to be only aimed at punishing them for their legitimate environmental and human rights activities.”
Ông Mai Phan Lợi bị bắt tạm giam về tội trốn thuế, Tuoi Tre Online, July 02 2021
Ông Mai Phan Lợi bị khởi tố, bắt tạm giam về hành vi trốn thuế, Thanh Nien Online, July 02 2021
Ông Mai Phan Lợi bị bắt về tội trốn thuế, Nguoi Lao Dong, July 02 2021
Ông Mai Phan Lợi bị khởi tố, VNExpress, July 02 2021
July Arrests Mark Turn for The Worse, The 88 Project, July 10, 2021
Independent Vietnamese journalist arrested on trumped-up tax charge, RSF, July 8, 2021
Vietnam arrests CSO leaders and blocks civil society participation in scrutiny of EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, Que Me, July 8, 2021
Independent Vietnamese journalist arrested on trumped-up tax charge, RSF, January 12, 2022
Vietnam appeals court reduces jail terms for two NGO workers, Radio Free Asia, August 11, 2022
Vietnam: Ongoing arbitrary detention and judicial harassment against four environmental rights defenders, FIDH, August 17, 2022
Profile last updated: 2022-08-22 15:15:58