Nguyen Van Son

March 2022:

On March 23 Le Van Dung, aka Le Dung Vova, was sentenced to five years in prison plus five years of probation by a Hanoi court for “anti-state propaganda” under Article 117. Dung was accused of posting video clips that allegedly defame the Communist Party. In court, he did not deny posting the material but insisted it was legal to do so. Dung’s lawyer said his client would appeal the verdict. Even though the trial supposedly was open, Dung’s wife and his mother were not allowed inside the courtroom.

Dung was on the run for a few months before he got arrested at a relative’s house. His relative, Nguyen Van Son, was also tried on the same day and was given an 18-month suspended sentence and 36 months of unsupervised probation.

Nguyen Van Son lives and works in Phuong Tu Ward, Ung Hoa District, Hanoi.

He has no formal history of activism.

Son has been included in our database because he was arrested for protecting a human rights defender who was persecuted for his peaceful expression.

Son is a relative of activist Le Van Dung, who was arrested in June 2021.