Nguy Thi Khanh
Current Status: Sentenced to prison
Other Names: Nguỵ Thị Khanh
Date of Birth: June 15, 1976
Gender: F
Ethnicity: Kinh
Occupation: NGO worker
Last Known Prison: Hanoi Police Detention Center No. 1, Hanoi
Areas of Activism:
- Environment
Known Affiliations:
June 2022:
Nguy Thi Khanh, one of Vietnam’s most prominent environmental experts, was sentenced to two years in prison on “tax evasion” charges. An outspoken critic of the use of coal, Khanh joined three other anti-coal environmental activists who were convicted earlier this year and handed multi-year sentences on what many consider to be trumped up charges of tax evasion. Khanh is the first Vietnamese to receive the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018, which came with a $200,000 prize. The tax evasion charge stems from the fact that Khanh failed to pay about $18,000 in taxes (10% of the prize). Her husband Manh Nguyen wrote on his Facebook page that the court acknowledged that Khanh said she did not know that the prize money was taxable and that she would gladly pay it. It is not clear if Khanh was represented by a lawyer.
Details - Background, History of Activism, Contact Information.
Nguy Thi Khanh, 46, is an environmental and human rights activist and a pioneer leader of Vietnam’s environmental movement.
Khanh graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, and had planned on becoming a diplomat. However, she was always passionate about the environment and, after graduating from college, began working on water conservation issues and community development.
She has played an instrumental role in shifting Viet Nam from coal and towards renewables and energy efficiency.
She was a fellow for the Eisenhower Fellowships Global 2019.
In 2011, Khanh founded the Green Innovation and Development Centre (Green ID) to promote sustainable energy development, and established the Vietnam Sustainable Energy Alliance (VSEA), a network of 11 Vietnamese and international environmental and social organizations in order to develop an alternate, more sustainable plan. Green ID is also a member of Vietnam’s Coalition for Climate Action (VCCA).
In 2018, Khanh was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize, and in 2019 the Climate Breakthrough Award, in recognition of her scientific research and engagement with Vietnamese state agencies to advocate for sustainable long-term energy projections in Vietnam.
Khanh Nguy Thi, 2018 Goldman Prize Recipient Asia, The Goldman Environmental Prize.
Awardee Nguy Thi Khanh, 2019 Climate Breakthrough Award, Climate Breakthrough Project.
Environmental Hero: Khanh Nguy Thi, One Earth, October 25, 2021
Analysis: Elite power struggle sees Vietnam abandon coal, but leaves collateral damage, Mongabay, March 15, 2022
Arrested January 11, 2022. Sentenced to 2 years in prison under Art. 200 (2015 Code). Expected Release is January 11, 2024.
January 11, 2022
- Art. 200 (2015 Code)
Hanoi city public security, Hanoi
Cau Dien Ward, Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi (map)
June 17, 2022
Nguyen Danh Hue
2 years in prison
January 11, 2024
- freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention
- liberty and security of the person
- freedom of expression
- FIDH
- US government
On January 11, 2022, Khanh was detained for questioning by the Hanoi police together with staff of Green ID, according to our source. While her collaborators were released after interrogation, Khanh was kept in custody.
Although the incident took place the previous month, her arrest was officially announced by state media on February 9, 2022. She was formally charged with “individual income tax evasion,” which carries a possible seven-year prison sentence under Article 200 of the 2015 Criminal Code.
The Green ID offices and Khanh’s house were searched by the police and documents and devices were confiscated. She remains in pre-trial detention at Hanoi Police Detention Center No. 1, Hanoi.
It is not known if Khanh's lawyer, Nguyen Danh Hue, has been allowed to see her after multiple requests. Her family has not been granted visitation yet, although they can send her some necessities.
Khanh's arrest is the fourth one following the arrests of Mai Phan Loi, Bach Hung Duong, and Dang Dinh Bach, who were also charged under Article 200 with “tax evasion.” It is argued that the charges against these civil society organizers are politically motivated. Please refer also to our analysis of these charges in July 2021, here.
June 2022:
Statement from the U.S. State Department on the punishment against Goldman Environmental Prize recipient Nguy Thi Khanh and other environmentalists in Vietnam.
The Climate Action Network has joined a host of international organizations and governments in condemning the prison sentence handed to anti-coal advocate Nguy Thi Khanh, calling for her release. The International Federation for Human Rights has also called for Khanh’s release in an urgent appeal.
Bắt Giám đốc Trung tâm phát triển sáng tạo xanh GreenID, Phap Luat Ho Chi Minh City, February 9, 2022.
Bắt bà Ngụy Thị Khanh - giám đốc Trung tâm phát triển sáng tạo xanh GreenID - vì hành vi trốn thuế, Tuoi Tre News, February 9, 2022.
Giám đốc xã hội dân sự Green ID bị bắt với cáo buộc trốn thuế, Radio Free Asia Vietnamese, February 9, 2022.
Award-winning Vietnamese environmentalist arrested as rights groups fear ‘clamp down’, The Guardian, February 9, 2022.
Chuyên gia môi trường xanh Ngụy Thị Khanh bị bắt vì ‘trốn thuế’, Voice of America Vietnamese, February 9, 2022.
Bắt các lãnh đạo khối XHDS vì lợi ích nhóm bị đụng chạm và để đe dọa!, Radio Free Asia Vietnamese, February 11, 2022.
She Spoke Out Against Vietnam’s Plans for Coal. Then She Was Arrested, New York Times, June 17, 2022
U.S. calls on Vietnam to release environmental advocate Nguy Thi Khanh, Reuters, June 19, 2022
Khanh's husband's Facebook post about the tax evasion charges, June 2022
On the Sentencing of Award-Winning Vietnamese Environmental Advocate Nguy Thi Khanh, US State Department, June 19, 2022
Profile last updated: 2022-06-27 16:33:35