Vietnam: detained media worker is transferred to far prison, his family harassed (Update)
Event- Country
- Viet Nam
- Initial Date
- May 25, 2022
- Event Description
Do Le Na, the visually impaired wife of Le Trong Hung, took her two sons to visit their father on May 15 as scheduled. But when she got there she was told the schedule was changed, without being given a reason; she was told to come back the next day, which she did. Finally, after 411 days the children were able to see their father for the first time in a brief 30-minute visit. Hung reported he had contracted Covid earlier but was coping well; he said he was also suffering from back pain. Hung mentioned he was not eating food that she bought from the canteen out of concern that prison officials might spike it with drugs in an effort to send him to a psychiatric hospital.
RFA Viet 3 June reported that on 25 May, Mr Hung - currently serving 5 years jail for anti-state propaganda - has been transferred to a further away prison 350km in distance from his home, where his visually impaired wife lives with their two young children.
Mr Hung's new prison is prison 6, Nghe An province. Mrs Le Na told RFA Viet, she wasn't informed of the prison transfer. Only when she came to temporary detention centre no 1, Tu Liem, Hanoi to bring him supplies on 1 June that she was informed of this. She said, during the time Mr Hung was transferred to the new prison, Hanoi police even sent people to her place to guard her and her two children, to intimidate them. '...My husband's only offence was being patriotic and trusting Party Chief Trong, thinking that he could help the Party Chief in his anti-corruption campaign by raising awareness about [officials'] wrongdoings and gifting copies of the nation's constitution to the people to raise their understanding.
'Yet, for that, my husband was jailed and transferred to a very remote prison, notorious for its harsh conditions, among the worst in Vietnam.' Mrs Le Na said.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Intimidation and Threats
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 21.02626679478036
Longitude: 105.853971448937
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 25 May 2022, Le Trong Hung, detained citizen journalist, was transferred to a 350 km-far prison by police officers, who also guarded and intimidated his wife and two children a their home in Hanoi, Viet Nam.