Profile

Nguyen Bao Tien

Current Status: Sentenced to prison

Photo of Nguyen Bao Tien

Other Names: Nguyễn Bảo Tiên

Date of Birth: 1986

Gender: M

Ethnicity: Kinh

Occupation: Driver

Areas of Activism:

  • Freedom of expression

June 2022:

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued two separate opinions regarding the arrest and imprisonment of Chau Van Kham and Nguyen Bao Tien. The Vietnamese government was found to have violated multiple articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the arrest and detentions of the two defendants.

Details - Background, History of Activism.

Nguyen Bao Tien was born in 1986. He lives in Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province.

Profile photo: Nguyen Bao Tien during his arrest, Source: Cong an Phu Yen

Tien has not been politically active. However, just like most victims of the Vietnam arbitrary judicial system, the court and the public security mentioned that Tien has for a long time shared “reactive” articles and Facebook posts to defame the Party and the State.

Arrested May 5, 2021. Sentenced to 6 years 6 months in prison under Art. 117 (2015 Code), Art. 305 (2015 Code). Expected Release is November 5, 2027.

May 5, 2021
  • Art. 117 (2015 Code)
  • Art. 305 (2015 Code)
Phu Yen province public security, Phu Yen Province
Tuy Hoa City (map)
January 21, 2022
The People's Court of Phu Yen Province
6 years 6 months in prison
November 5, 2027
  • freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention
  • liberty and security of the person
  • freedom of expression
  • fair trial
UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

According the official report of the Public Security and the People’s Procuratorate, Tien’s “criminal activities” included receiving six parcels containing books, including Chính trị bình dân (Popular Politics), Cẩm nang nuôi tù (A Manual for Vietnamese Prisons), and Phản kháng phi bạo lực (Non-violence Resistance). The government says that these books are reactionary and defamatory against the leadership of the Vietnamese Communist Party. 

Tien is also accused of “sending” 46 parcels to readers and customers who ordered these books. The Tuy Hoa Public Security discovered 38 books hidden in his house. 

During their search, the police also found one grenade that he had kept since 2008 from a civil defense drill, unrelated to this case. 

Several sources confirm that Tien’ house was searched on April 20, 2021. Others, citing the Liberal Publishing House, mentioned the possibility that Thang had been detained since October 2019 because at this point of time, the LPH lost communication with him. 

On January 21, 2022, Tien was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for “storing, disseminating information, documents, items, publications and propagating against the State”, and another one year for illegal possession of explosive material.

Note: The 88 Project does not condone violence. However, in the absence of a free press environment, activists should be given the benefit of the doubt, and any accusation by the authorities against them should not be taken for granted.

Profile last updated: 2022-06-20 17:48:12

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