Xuan Phuoc Prison authorities have sent political prisoner Dang Dang Phuoc, 61, a music teacher in Dak Lak Province, to solitary confinement as a punishment for his violation of unspecified regulations, his wife, Le Thi Ha, told Radio Free Asia (RFA).

Ha said that she learned about Phuoc’s punishment when she received a notice from the prison saying that her husband was being disciplined in a solitary cell between May 10 and 20. The notice did not specify his violations, but Ha believed it resulted from her last visitation on May 9, when Phuoc gave her a piece of paper containing a cellmate’s phone number and asked her to pass it to that prisoner’s family. The correctional officers intervened and took that information away.

Ha also expressed worries over her husband’s health since prison rations lack nutritious food, and visitations from relatives have been reduced to once every two months from once a month. She added that she would file a complaint with the Phu Yen Provincial Procuracy regarding Phuoc’s punishment.

The Dak Lak music teacher received an eight-year sentence in June 2023 on charges of “distributing anti-state propaganda.” Phuoc lost an appeal in September of the same year and was transferred to Xuan Phuoc Prison in Phu Yen Province.