Vietnam: Authorities in Central City of Hue Expel Pro-democracy Activist Le My Hanh
Event- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- Jul 21, 2018
- Event Description
Authorities in Vietnam's central city of Hue have expeled pro-democracy campaigner and human rights defender Le My Hanh, forcing her to leave the city without taking her items with exception of a old cell phone, the victim said in a video clip posted on her Facebook account. Ms. Hanh said she was put in an inter-city bus which heads to Ho Chi Minh City. She has no money nor personal documents. Ms. Hanh, an activist from Hanoi, moved to Ho Chi Minh City last year. In recent month, she has rent an apartment in the old capital city of Hue for her online trading business there. In early morning of July 21, two under-covered police came to her apartment and accused her of selling low-quality goods. Police in uniform quickly appeared and took her to a loca police station. After a rude interrogation in which the local police told her that she is not welcome in the location, police took her to a bus station and forced her to get in an inter-city bus which later moved to the country's southern economic hub. The bus driver was told not to allow her to leave the bus until its final destination. Hanh successfully escaped when the bus stopped at a restaurant in Quang Nam province for breakfast. She crossed the rice field behind the restaurant to a residential area and called her friends for help. At the early morning of July 22, Hanh came back to her apartment in Hue but she cannot get in as the lock was filled with iron matters. Ms. Hanh is the activist beaten two times by government loyalistswithin one month last year as reprisal of her social activities. Police have yet to complete their investigation on her case. Hue City is among many Vietnamese localities where local authorities have persecuted to silence local activists or tried to expel them out of their territories. Catholic priest Phan Van Loi from the city has reported that plainclothes agents have attacked his private house with bricks, stones and dirty substances along with blocking him from meeting with other activists as well as participating in religious events. From late June until early July, authorities in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong deployed under-covered police to attack the private residence of labor activist Do Thi Minh Hanh with stones, bricks, hand-made bomb and toxic gas in a bid to force to leave her father's house.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Restrictions on Movement
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 14.058324
Longitude: 108.277199
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 21 July 2018, Le My Hanh, pro-democracy campaigner and WHRD,was expelled from he city without taking her items with exception of a old cell phone.