Nguyen Chi Tuyen
Nguyễn Chí Tuyến
Detainment Type: Sentenced to prison
Other Names: Nguyễn Chí Tuyến, Anh Chí (Anh Chi)
Date of Birth: May 23, 1974
Gender: M
Ethnicity: Kinh
Occupation: Blogger
Human Rights Defender: Y
Activist Focus:
- Defense of HRDs
- Environment
- Freedom of expression
- Land rights
- Sovereignty
Organizational/Political Party Affiliation:
Details
Immediate Concerns
Nguyen Chi Tuyen, also known as Anh Chi, was sentenced to five years in prison for “making, storing or distributing information, documents and items aimed against the state of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” (Article 117) on August 15 in Hanoi. Only his wife and lawyers were allowed in the courtroom. One of Tuyen’s lawyers said that he maintained his innocence at trial and has only two weeks to decide if he wants to appeal.
Nguyen Chi Tuyen‘s wife, Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet, was at the trial of her husband. Tuyet told Project88 that even though it was an “open trial,” only she and Tuyen’s lawyers were allowed inside; all his supporters were stopped from entering the courthouse. The trial started at 8:30AM and lasted until 2:00PM, but Tuyet was not let into the courtroom until 9:00AM because security guards had to “run around getting permission from the chief judge,” Tuyet said. She also noted that Tuyen looked thinner, but was calm and confident; he occasionally spoke up to answer the court and defend himself with clarity.
Tuyen’s attorney, Nguyen Ha Luan, told Project88 that of the five video clips used as evidence to accuse his client of spreading “anti-state propaganda,” only two were somewhat relevant to Article 117 of the Criminal Code. According to Luan, even those accusations are “baseless” because the content of the clips only reached a small group of viewers and didn’t have enough influence to “affect the stability or development of the nation.” The first clip was about Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, the woman who donated $115M to Oxford University in the U.K. to have a college named after her. It mentioned how children of people in positions of power in Vietnam were given government posts. The second clip was a panel discussion about Vietnam’s anti-corruption drive, with the participation of six individuals. One person emphasized the idea that a multi-party structure is needed in order to fight corruption successfully. Tuyen agreed with the speaker on this point and, according to attorney Luan, this appears to be the main thrust of the case.
Before the trial’s conclusion, Chi Tuyen gave his final remarks, which we have translated into English and which can be read in full here.
Nguyen Chi Tuyen is one of the most well known Vietnamese human rights bloggers, amassing nearly 100,000 followers on his YouTube channel “Anh Chí Râu Đen.” Of Tuyen’s impact, Bennett Murray, former bureau chief for DPA (the German press agency) in Hanoi, said: “I think he spoke to people on a very individual level, not just sort of trading stories and ideas with fellow travelers, but actually reaching out to people on social media and really talking to the people who …. people who have a need to hear sort of alternative takes on the way things are in Vietnam and of the Communist Party.” Read more in Who is Anh Chi? And watch Murray speak about Tuyen’s motivations and legacy in the video clips below.
Anh Chi’s work — he was a generalist
“He loves his country. He is not violent.”
“We’re really proud of the work you’ve done.”
“I did what I did to exercise two fundamental rights: freedom of speech and freedom of expression:” Nguyen Chi Tuyen’s closing words at trial, Project88, Aug., 24, 2024
Statement on the prison sentence of Mr. Nguyen Chi Tuyen. Statement of the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam; 2024-08-16
July 2024:
Democracy activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen will be put on trial in Hanoi on August 15. Tuyen, a.k.a. blogger Anh Chi, has been indicted for engaging in “anti-state propaganda” based on Article 117, Title 1, Sections b & c. The trial will allegedly be open and will take place at The People’s Court in Hoang Mai District. Tuyen faces up to 12 years in prison and will be represented by lawyer Nguyen Ha Luan.
June 2024:
A member of blogger Nguyen Chi Tuyen’s family reported that the authorities completed the investigation on Tuyen in the first week of June. His case has been forwarded to the prosecution’s office and the courts. Chi’s family has contacted lawyers to prepare for his defense.
May 2024:
The family of blogger Nguyen Chi Tuyen a.k.a Anh Chi, still has not been able to communicate with him since his arrest on Feb. 29. They have been sending him supplies regularly but have not been able to confirm receipt.
April 2024:
Nguyen Chi Tuyen is being held incommunicado and has not been able to contact his family for more than a month. They can only send him supplies twice a month per regulations and are concerned about his wellbeing. For more about his lengthy activism career, check out his database profile and this feature in the Mekong Review.
Background
Profile photo source: Mekong Review
History of Activism
Nguyen Chi Tuyen, or Anh Chi, is a well-known blogger and a human rights defender in Hanoi, Vietnam. However, he had largely been inactive prior to his arrest.
Watch a brief video of him, here.
Tuyen’s YouTube channel “Anh Chí Râu Đen” amassed nearly 100,000 followers ,while his Facebook account Nguyen Chi Tuyen (Anh Chí) has more than 53,000 followers for his commentary on Vietnamese social and political topics. His other YouTube “AC Media”, which focuses on coverage and commentary on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has attracted almost 60,000 subcribers.
He is vocal in defending land rights of communities including Van Giang, Duong Noi, and Dong Tam, and speaking on behalf of victims of the Formosa environmental disaster. Also, he is a co-founder of the “No-U" soccer club, a group that protests China's maritime claims in the South China Sea. Since 2011, Tuyen has also been an active member of an anti-China group that has organized numerous demonstrations in the country.
In May 2017, he was attacked by alleged plainclothes police when driving his son home from school and was beaten and left unconscious.
Read more in Who is Anh Chi? And watch Bennett Murray, former bureau cheif for the DPA in Hanoi, speak about Tuyen’s motivations and legacy in the video clips below.
Anh Chi’s work — he was a generalist
Sentenced to 5 years in prison under Art. 117 (2015 Code). Expected Release is March 1, 2029.
February 29, 2024
- Art 117
Provincial/city
Ngoc Thuy district, Long Bien
No
No
August 15, 2024 - Date of trial - tried and convicted
- Pham Le Quyen
- Le Dinh Viet
- Nguyen Ha Luan
5 years in prison
March 1, 2029
Details of Imprisonment
On Feb. 29, 2024, at around 10 am, the Hanoi Security Investigation Agency searched Nguyen Chi Tuyen’s house in Long Bien, Hanoi and arrested him under Article 117 of “disseminating information, materials, items and publications against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam."
Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet, the wife of Nguyen Chi Tuyen, told Project88 that the police did not show any search warrant nor the arrest warrant. Instead, a police read out loud a long arrest warrant, saying that Tuyen will be detained for four months at the Temporary Detention Center No. 2 in Hanoi while further investigation is conducted into the charge. Tuyen’s laptop, mobile phone, and some of his handwritten documents were confiscated.
As a vocal human rights defender, Nguyen Chi Tuyen was put under the government surveilance for years, starting roughly around the time of the Formosa environmental disaster and subsequent protests in 2016. Tuyet shared: “In May 2017, he was attacked by at least five alleged plainclothes police when driving home from his son school. He was hospitalized and severely injured at that time. In 2023, police summoned him for several days of questioning about live streams that were broadcast several years ago on his “Anh Chí Râu Đen” YouTube channel. Then the local authorities sent him a travel ban. On January 11, 2024, they sent another notice banning him from leaving Vietnam. On the same day, they issued a letter stating that they had received a crime report from Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Division, accusing Tuyen of committing the crimes of ‘anti-State propaganda’ under Article 117 and ‘abusing the rights to democratic freedom’ under Article 331 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code.”
Ms. Tuyet told Project88 that Tuyen received a summons to attend a meeting with Hanoi Security Investigation Agency for the morning of Feb. 29. However, he became ill and asked to postpone the meeting. “There were at first just two, three people in front of my home. They asked me to meet with my husband for a while. When I opened the gate, then dozens of other people entered into my home. One of them was uniformed, one was the local police, while the rest were in plain clothes,” Tuyet shared.
She visited the temporary detention center on March 1 and could send her husband neccessities and some pocket money, but not medications.
Resources
Family interviews, March, April, May 2024
Nhà hoạt động Nguyễn Chí Tuyến bị bắt, BBC News Vietnamese, Feb. 29, 2024
Vietnam’s Message Rings Clear with the Arrest of Nguyen Chi Tuyen – We Will Arrest Whoever We Want, Whenever We Want, Project88, March 1, 2024
Who is Anh Chi?,Project88, August 14, 2024
Video interviews with Bennett Murray, former bureau chief of the DPA in Hanoi:
Anh Chi’s work — he was a generalist
“He loves his country. He is not violent.”
“We’re really proud of the work you’ve done.”
Profile last updated: 2024-08-25 00:21:45