Uwazi

Vietnamese police detained and assaulted family members of a jailed democracy activist and Christian pastor before and during U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink�s recent visit to their district in Thanh Hoa province, the political prisoner�s wife said Wednesday.

The house arrest and beating appears to be part of an intensifying crackdown on human rights activists and dissidents six months before the Communist Party of Vietnam�s next five-yearly party congress.

Ahead of the ambassador�s visit, local police visited the Quang Xuong district home of Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, who is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for his involvement with the Brotherhood for Democracy dissident group.

�On June 26, officers from the Quang Yen commune police department came to my house, ordering all the family members not to go out of the home for the next few days,� Nguyen�s wife Nguyen Thi Lanh told RFA�s Vietnamese Service.

They locked the gate surrounding the house Monday night, as Kritenbrink was arriving in Quang Xuong the next day.

According to a report by Thanh Hoa Radio and Television, the ambassador was leading U.S. delegation to the northern coastal province to attend an opening ceremony for a local project supported by the embassy�s Fund for Cultural Preservation.

Nguyen Thi Lanh said that on Tuesday morning, she used pliers to break the locks so she could sell goods in the market. Police arrested her there and took her to the Quang Yen police station.

At 4:00 p.m. that day her son Nguyen Trung Trong Nghia left the home to meet his mother at the station.

She said that when her son was on his way there he was attacked by two people, believed to be plainclothes police officers.

�My son was ambushed. They blindfolded and bludgeoned my son�s head with an electric baton, causing him injury,� said Nguyen Thi Lanh.

�A police officer took my son to a health clinic for treatment then brought him back to the Quang Yen police office for booking,� she said.

�This morning, my son returned to the health clinic for more treatment. His face was swollen, and he has broken teeth,� she added.

An official at the Quang Yen police station told the family that the reason for the house arrest was because Ambassador Kritenbrink was visiting their district. The ambassador left Quang Xuong at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, after which the police left their position at the family�s house.

RFA attempted to contact the Quang Xuong district police office for comment, but nobody answered the phone.

Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton was arrested in July 2017 on charges of �attempting to overthrow the people�s government� and was sentenced to 12 years in prison and three years of probation in April 2018.

Vietnamese authorities have in the past taken interest in the family of political prisoners with Christian affiliations meeting with U.S. diplomats.

In 2016, local police subjected Tran Thi Hong, wife of imprisoned Mennonite pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh to an intense interrogation two months after she met with U.S. diplomats to discuss religious freedom.

Estimates of the number of prisoners of conscience now held in Vietnam�s jails vary widely. New York-based Human Rights Watch said that authorities held 138 political prisoners as of October 2019, while Defend the Defenders has suggested that at least 240 are in detention, with 36 convicted last year alone.

On 29 June 2020, at least two family members of Nguyen Trung Ton, detained political prisoner, were prevented from leaving home, beaten, and later arrested by the police in Than Hoa Province, Viet Nam.

On June 24, Vietnam�s security forces violently detained Hanoi-based four activists for their voicing to support land petitioners in Dong Tam commune, Hoai Duc district who were brutally suppressed by the communist regime in January this year.

According to a short video clip made by human rights defender Trinh Ba Phuong, a large number of uniformed and plainclothes policemen gathered near his private residence in the early hours of Wednesday. At around 5.30 am, police cut Internet connection in the area and used pliers to cut his house�s lock to break in and arrest him in the front of his wife who gave the birth of their second child four days ago.

Phuong�s mother, former prisoner of conscience Can Thi Theu and his younger brother Trinh Ba Tu were also detained by the police. Theu, who was imprisoned twice a total 35 months for objecting land grabbing, was arrested while staying in her daughter�s house in the northern province of Hoa Binh while Tu was detained in their agricultural field in the province.

Land petitioner and human rights defender Nguyen Thi Tam was the fourth victim of Vietnam�s persecution today. She was kidnaped by security forces while going to a local wet market. She was taken away while the police came to her private residence in Duong Noi village for house searching.

According to their families, the detainees as well as some of their relatives were beaten by police officers during their detention and house search, during which police confiscated a computer set and four cell phones from Mrs. Tam�s house and cell phones from Mrs. Theu and her sons. Police also informed that they also found some books printed by the unsanctioned publisher Liberal Publishing House led by prominent human rights defender and political blogger Pham Doan Trang in Mrs. Theu�s family houses.

All of them from Duong Noi village, Ha Dong district, Hanoi where the city�s authorities seized their agricultural land without paying adequate compensation. Theu and her husband Trinh Ba Khiem as well as Phuong, Tu, and Tam were active fighters for their land although they failed.

Later, the state-controlled media reported that all of them were charged with �conducting anti-state propaganda� under Article 117 of the Criminal Code with the imprisonment of between seven and 12 years in prison but maybe up to 20 years in jail. While Mr. Phuong and Mrs. Tam are held in the Temporary detention center No. 1 (Hoa Lo) under the authority of the Hanoi Police Department, Mrs. Theu and her son Mr. Tu are kept in the temporary detention center under the authority of Hoa Binh province�s Police Department. All of them will be held incommunicado during the investigation period which will last four months at least and may be extended to more than two years.

The detentions are likely related to the brutal massacre on January 9 when the Ministry of Public Security deployed thousands of riot policemen to Dong Tam commune to attack Hoanh villagers. Police killed 84-year-old communist member Le Dinh Kinh, the spiritual leader of the local land petitioners, and arrested nearly 30 people, including his two sons and two grandchildren.

Police said during the attack, three police officers were killed and blamed the local petitioners for their death although there are no solid shreds of evidence for their deaths and even no traces of their bodies.

In its investigation report released recently, the Hanoi Police Department proposed 25 detainees be prosecuted of murders and four others of �resisting on-duty state officials.�

Since the land dispute in Dong Tam commune started in 2017, the four activists have provided strong support for the local petitioners. Right after the massacre in early January this year, Phuong and Tam kept updating their posts about the case on their Facebook accounts. Phuong also met with US diplomat in Hanoi to report the case.

Two days after detaining the four activists, authorities in Hanoi publicized the indictments against 29 Dong Tam land petitioners, paving the way for the city�s People�s Court to hold the first-trial against them. Hard sentences are expected for them. Some sources that they have a plan to impose the death penalty for four of the defendants and lengthy sentences for the remaining.

Tam is a well-known strong woman in Duong Noi. She often criticized Hanoi police for persecuting her. In recent weeks, she made a number of online surveys about the communist regime�s policies and its senior officials.

It is worth noting that Facebooker Chung Hoang Chuong has convicted of �abusing democratic freedom� and sentenced to 18 months in prison for disseminating information about the police�s massacre in Dong Tam.

Along with recent detentions across the country, the arrests on Wednesday prove that the communist regime will apply all measures to crack down on the local dissent in a bid to ensure a �stable environment� for preparation of the 13th National Congress of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam. It is likely that the police generals want to show their power after dozens of police and army generals have been imprisoned for fired for economic wrongdoings.

On 24 June 2020, four land righs defenders were beaten and detained by the police, one of them was kidnapped, and their houses raided in Hanoi, Viet Nam.

On June 23, the People�s Court of Vietnam�s northern province of Hoa Binh convicted local resident Nguyen Van Nghiem of �Making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam� under Article 117 of the country�s Criminal Code.

At the end of the first-instance hearing which lasted a few hours, the court sentenced the 57-year-old barber to six years in prison, Defend the Defenders has learned.

In an open trial, only the defendant�s wife was permitted to enter the courtroom while his friends and supporters were barred from observing the trial inside.

The defendant had no legal assistance although his wife had signed a contract with Hanoi-based attorney Ha Huy Son. It is likely Nghiem got pressured from the police to deny legal counseling.

Nghiem was arrested on November 5 last year over his posts on Facebook regarding issues such as human rights violations, systemic corruption, widespread environmental pollution and China�s violations of the country�s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea) and the weak response of Vietnam�s communist regime. He also conducted many live streams on his Facebook account Nghiem Nguyen on which criticized the communist regime and its leaders for their failure to deal with these problems.

So far this year, Vietnam has tried activists, four of them were convicted between nine months and six years for their posts on Facebook. In addition, hundreds of Facebookers have been fined up to VND15 million ($680) for their Facebook posts which were considered fake or untrue by the communist authorities, especially about the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vietnam�s communist regime is holding at least 280 prisoners of conscience, according to the latest statistics of Defend the Defenders. More arrests are expected by the end of this year as the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam is preparing its 13th National Congress slated in January 2021.

On 23 June 2020, Nguyen Van Nghiem, detained blogger, was handed down harsh sentence over social media posting by a court in Hoa Binh Province, Viet Nam.

Vietnam�s communist regime has arrested the third journalist named Le Huu Minh Tuan in an effort to demolish the unregistered group Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN), Defend the Defenders has learned.

Local activists reported that on June 12, the security forces of Ho Chi Minh City�s Police Department arrested Mr. Tuan, who is a member of IJAVN, and has a number of articles under penname Le Tuan. It is unclear what the charge he is facing, but his arrest is likely related to the previous detentions of IJAVN�s President Ph?m Chi Dung and Vice President Nguyen Tuong Thuy, who were accused of �conducting anti-state propaganda� under Article 117 of the Criminal Code with imprisonment of between seven and 12 years if are convicted.

Tuan was said to be taken to Chi Hoa temporary detention center under the authority of HCM City�s Police Department, where Mr. Dung and Mr. Thuy are held incommunicado since their arrest in November 2019 and May 23 this year, respectively.

Mr. Tuan, 31, joined IJAVN in 2014. He graduated from Da Nang University, majoring in history. He is currently working on a second degree at Hanoi Law University.

In the months after the arrest of Mr. Dung, Tuan was repeatedly summoned by security forces for interrogation about the association. Tuan�s friends advised him to go into hiding to avoid being harassed or detained, however, he refused, saying he didn�t want his studies interrupted. He also acquiesced to these questionings because he believed he hadn�t done anything wrong.

In order to keep the country under a one-party regime, the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam is striving not to allow the formation of opposition groups and civil society organizations. After arresting a dozen of key members of the unsanctioned group Brotherhood for Democracy, Vietnam�s security forces are targeting IJAVN which has more than 50 independent journalists and dissidents who have produced thousands of unbiased articles regarding hot issues of the country such as human rights violations, systemic corruption, widespread environmental pollution, China�s violations of the country�s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea) and the weak response of the communist regime in Hanoi, failures of socio-economic policies of the ruling Communist Party, etc.

Under the communist regime�s provision, IJAVN is a thorny group that should not exist. Since its establishment in 2014, it and its members have been under constant persecution of security forces who strive not to allow its members to gather or meet with foreign diplomats. In November last year, the security forces started their campaign to crack down on the association by arresting its President Dung and a half year later, they detained Acting President Thuy.

A number of its members are under threat and may be arrested at any moment as the security forces want to eradicate the association ahead of the upcoming 13th National Congress scheduled in January 2021.

Vietnam is among the world�s biggest enemies of the press. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Hanoi held 12 journalists under the bar for their journalism activities as of 2019�s end while the Reporters Without Border (RSF) has placed Vietnam at the bottom of its annual free press indexes in recent years.

So far this year, Vietnam has arrested at least 12 activists, nine of them for their writings. Vietnam is also among the biggest prisons of prisoners of conscience in Southeast Asia, with more than 250 activists being kept behind bars.

On 12 June 2020, Le Huu Minh Tuan, media worker, was arrested by the police likely as member of an independent unregistered media group critical of the Government in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.

Vietnamese police on Saturday (May 22) detained the acting president of the unsanctioned Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN) six months after the arrest of its president, a rights group and his family said.

Nguyen Tuong Thuy (pic), 68, was arrested on Saturday morning at his house in Hanoi on the charge of "conducting anti-state propaganda," Defend the Defenders, a non-profit NGO working for the promotion of human rights and democracy as well as assisting local activists at risk in Vietnam, reported.

Thuy, a retired veteran and an active blogger, is renowned for commenting on the government's policies and criticizing them for social injustice and corruption.

His family said a group of security officers blocked his private residence in Hanoi, confiscating the mobile phones of all members of the family, and started to search their house. Police seized his computers and other personal items and took him away.

"The recent arrests, including those of Mr Pham Thanh and Mr Nguyen Tuong Thuy, are part of the ongoing crackdown on local dissent prior to the party's 13th National Congress slated in January 2021," Vu Quoc Ngu, director of Defend the Defenders, said.

On Thursday, police arrested Pham Thanh, a former journalist for the Voice of Vietnam, on the same charge as Thuy.

Thanh, 68, has written several books and essays criticizing Vietnam's communist government and leaders, including a book self-published in 2019 harshly criticizing Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Vietnam, a single party state, broadly bans dissent in its penal code.

The 88 Project, a US-based rights monitoring group, lists more than 200 political prisoners in Vietnam.

The country denies holding political prisoners.

On 23 May 2020, Nguyen Tuong Thuy, blogger, was detained by the police for allegedly conducting anti-state propaganda, personal belongings of him and his family were seized in Hanoi, Viet Nam.

Police officers from the Ministry of Public Security detained young activist Nguyen Anh Tuan on Friday when he was in a cafeteria in Hanoi.

Police took him to a police station and questioned about his legal writing about the land dispute in Dong Tam commune, Hoai Duc district, Hanoi and the brutal assault by thousands of riot policemen in Hoanh village on January 9 in which police barbarically killed 84-year-old Le Dinh Kinh and arrested around 30 local residents.

Mr. Tuan was released in the late afternoon of the same day.

Mr. Tuan, born in 1990 from the central city of Danang, is a talented young man. He has just completed a master degree in Public Policy at the Vietnam-Japan University of Hanoi National University. He also attended many overseas-based training sessions about campaigning for democracy and human rights. He actively supported victims of the Formosa environmental disaster. He has been illegally detained many times, having a passport confiscated for many months before being returned thanks to pressure from the EU.

After the Dong Tam massacre, Tuan and many individuals as well as independent civil society groups have provided support and legal guidance to Dong Tam villagers, and helped them draft letters to foreign governments and international rights organizations.

On 22 May 2020, Nguyen Anh Tuan, pro-democracy defender, was interrogated, temporarily detained by the police for writing on a deadly police assault against civilians in Hanoi, Viet Nam.

Police in Vietnam�s capital Hanoi arrested a dissident writer and blogger on Thursday on charges of producing and distributing information opposing the government amid a deepening crackdown on freedom of expression in the one-party communist state.

Pham Chi Thanh, also called Pham Thanh, was taken into custody at 8:00 a.m. by a large group of police who burst through the door of his home, his wife Nguyen Thi Nghiem told RFA�s Vietnamese Service by phone.

�While my son was opening the door, many police came into the house, and I heard the noise and came downstairs,� Nguyen said.

�They asked me where my husband was, and I said he was on the fifth floor watering [bonsai] trees. Then they brought my husband downstairs, and the police said they had warrants to arrest him and to search the house.�

After the police read out their warrants, they seized two computers, a printer, and some documents, arrested Pham, and left the house at 10:00 a.m., Nguyen said, adding that she was so weakened and overwhelmed by anxiety during the arrest that she couldn�t hear clearly what Pham had been charged with.

Writing later on his Facebook page, another dissident writer said however that Pham had been arrested under Article 117 of Vietnam�s penal code for �producing, storing, and disseminating information and documents against the Vietnamese state.�

RFA has not been able yet to independently confirm the charge.

Critical books, essays

Born in 1952, Pham Thanh has written a number of books and essays critical of Vietnam�s communist government and leaders, including a book self-published in 2019 harshly criticizing Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Dissent is not tolerated in Vietnam, and authorities routinely use a set of vague provisions in the penal code to detain dozens of writers, bloggers, and activists calling for greater freedoms in the one-party communist state.

Estimates of the number of prisoners of conscience now held in Vietnam�s jails vary widely.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has said that authorities held 138 political prisoners as of October 2019, while Defend the Defenders has suggested that at least 240 are in detention, with 36 convicted last year alone.

On 21 May 2020, Pham Chi Thanh, pro-democracy defender, was arrested by the police, his house searched for allegedly disseminating information critical of the Government in Hanoi, Viet Nam.

On May 8, the People�s Court of Soc Son district in Vietnam�s capital city of Hanoi convicted two anti-corruption activists named Dang Thi Hue and Bui Manh Tien on allegation of �causing public disorders� under Article 318 of the country�s Criminal Code.

Specifically, they were sentenced to 15 months in prison each. Due to her 24-month probation sentence earlier, Ms. Hue has to serve her 42-month imprisonment in the coming years.

They were arrested in mid-October last year when they were trying to block the Bac Thang Long-Noi Bai BOT (build-operating-transfer) toll booth to protest its illegal fee collection. Their acts were simply civil but considered as criminal since the BOT toll booths belong to companies backed by senior state officials.

In May last year, Ms. Hue was beaten by plainclothes policemen of Soc Son district. Due to the assault, she suffered a birth miscarriage.

Hue is among dozens of activists speaking up against fee collecting of wrongly-placed BOT toll booths in many places in Vietnam, including the Bac Thang Long-Noi Bai BOT.

Many anti-BOT activists have been persecuted by plainclothes agents and thugs in recent months. Mr. Ha Van Nam and six others were convicted and sentenced to between 18 months and 36 months on the allegation of �disturbing public orders.�

So far this year, Vietnam�s communist regime has convicted four activists with a total of 11 years and three months of imprisonment and three years of probation. In addition, the regime has arrested seven activists, mostly on allegations in the national security provisions of the Criminal Code, raising the number of prisoners of conscience to 247 at least, according to Defend the Defenders� latest statistics.

On 8 May 2020, Dang Thi Hue and Bui Manh Tien, detained defenders, were convicted to 15-month imprisonment for an anti-corruption protest staged in 2019 by a district court in Hanoi, Viet Nam.

Vietnamese authorities on Tuesday sentenced a young Facebook user to a five-year prison term on charges of spreading propaganda against the state for his online postings amid a deepening crackdown on freedom of expression in the one-party communist state.

Phan Cong Hai, 25, was convicted in the People�s Court of the central province of Nghe An under Article 117 of Vietnam�s 2015 Penal Code following a two-hour trial unattended by lawyers. He was the second Facebook user to be jailed in Vietnam this week and the latest in a heavy-handed campaign to censor what the 65 million users of the social platform can write or read.

Speaking to RFA�s Vietnamese Service following the trial, Phan�s father Phan Cong Binh said that he had seen his son only once following Phan�s Nov. 19 arrest after evading capture by police for almost six months.

�I was able to meet my son briefly on Dec. 24, 2019, but we couldn�t speak freely because the police were standing right next to us,� he said, adding that travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have made it difficult to see Phan more frequently.

�Now, our family really doesn�t know what to do,� he said.

According to the indictment filed against him, Phan was identified by Nghe An police as the user of a Facebook account set up under the name Hung Manh which described efforts by Vietnamese youth to �offend the image� of the government and of Vietnamese Communist Party founder Ho Chi Minh.

The Facebook page came to the attention of the province�s Do Thanh High School in late 2018, and school authorities contacted police who issued a warrant for Phan�s arrest and began a nationwide search in May last year which ended when Phan returned to his native Ha Tinh province in November after taking refuge in Thailand.

Meanwhile, Vietnam�s Ninh Kieu District Court in Can Tho City on Monday handed another Facebook user an 18-month prison term for sharing a story on Facebook in January about a deadly government crackdown during a politically sensitive land dispute at the Dong Tam commune outside Hanoi.

Chung Hoang Chuong, better known by his nickname Lucky, was found guilty of �abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, lawful rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens� in violation of Article 331 of the Vietnamese Penal Code.

Facebook under fire

Facebook has come under fire from Vietnamese and international rights activists after the social media giant publicly admitted it has agreed to help communist authorities censor posts critical of the government.

On April 21, two Facebook employees told the Reuters news agency that the company�s servers in Vietnam were taken offline for about seven weeks earlier in the year until Facebook agreed to government demands to remove posts considered by authorities to have criticized the communist state.

In a statement condemning Facebook�s decision to comply with government demands, Amnesty International Human Rights Advisor William Nee warned that �governments around the world will see this as an open invitation to enlist Facebook in the service of state censorship.�

�The Vietnamese authorities� ruthless suppression of freedom of expression is nothing new, but Facebook�s shift in policy makes them complicit,� he added.

In an emailed statement to RFA on April 22, Facebook spokesperson Amy Sawitta Lefevre defended her company�s action, saying that though freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, Facebook risked being blocked by authorities in Vietnam if the company refused to comply.

�We have taken this action to ensure our services remain available and usable for millions of people in Vietnam, who rely on them every day,� Lefevre said.

Vietnamese activist Tran Bang said that Facebook�s decision to bow to government demands �will block the ears, mouths, and eyes of Vietnam�s people, just as if there was no Facebook here at all.�

�Tens of millions of Facebook users have posted news from many different sources, helping people access truthful information about politics, society, and the economy," he told RFA on April 27.

"By blocking and removing stories in accordance with the authorities� requirements, [Facebook] is complicit with the dictatorship in violating human rights and freedom of expression in Vietnam."

�This means that Facebook is no different from the communist police,� he said.

Refining repression

In a report this year, the media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that �as Vietnam�s citizens become increasingly engaged online, the authorities have been refining their digital repressive methods.�

The NGO said Vietnam�s army has created �a 10,000-strong military cyber-warfare department called �Force 47,� which is tasked with defending the Party and targeting dissident bloggers.�

�Under a new cyber-crime law that took effect in 2019, foreign online platforms are required to store their Vietnamese user data on servers in Vietnam and surrender it to the authorities when required,� RSF added.

Facebook user Dinh Van Hai told RFA that Facebook had been forced to cooperate with authorities to avoid being blocked behind a firewall. �But for me, Facebook must continue to prioritize freedom of the news as its top goal,� he said.

Though smaller social media networks have recently been set up in Vietnam, these typically block content widely shared on Facebook and are not widely used, Ha Hoang Hop�a researcher at Singapore�s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies�told RFA in a text message sent on April 27.

�Vietnamese social networks have not attracted as many users as Facebook, and they can�t compete,� he said.

No room for dissent

Vietnam, whose ruling Communist Party controls all media and tolerates no dissent, ranks 175th of 180 countries on the 2020 RSF�s World Press Freedom Index.

�As Vietnam�s media all follow the Communist Party�s orders, the only sources of independently-reported information are bloggers and independent journalists, who are being subjected to ever-harsher harsh forms of persecution,� said RSF.

�To justify jailing them, the Party resorts increasingly to articles 79, 88 and 258 of the criminal code, under which �activities aimed at overthrowing the government,� �anti-state propaganda� and �abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to threaten the interests of the state� are punishable by long prison terms,� it said.

Vietnam has also been consistently rated �not free� in the areas of internet and press freedom by Freedom House, a U.S.-based watchdog group.

On 28 April 2020, Phan Cong Hai, blogger, was handed down a 5-year jail term over Facebook posts critical of the Government by the court ofCourt of Nghe An, Viet Nam.

The People�s Court of Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho City on April 27 convicted local resident Chung Hoang Chuong of �abusing democratic freedom� under Article 331 of the country�s Criminal Code for his post on Facebook, Defend the Defenders has learned.

The court sentenced him to 18 months in prison in the trial the defendant has not been protected by his own lawyer while his wife was informed about the first-instance hearing just 20 minutes before it started.

Mr. Chuong, 43, was detained on January 11 this year. According to the indictment, Mr. Chuong has conducted online activities on his Facebook account Ch??ng May M?n where he wrote or shared numerous statuses regarding hot issues Vietnam, including human rights abuse, serious nationwide environmental pollution, systemic corruption and the government�s weak response to China�s violations of the country�s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea). His latest statuses on his Facebook page were about the military attack in Dong Tam commune carried out by the Ministry of Public Security and the Hanoi Police Department in the early morning of January 9 in which police killed at least two civilians.

His wife reported on her Facebook page that during the trial, the procuracy representative said Chuong should not write about the Dong Tam assault, because it is the issue of Hanoi and the capital city�s authorities are responsible for settle it.

Mr. Chuong has been the second Facebooker being detained for their online activities amid increasing crackdown on the local dissent. After him, Vietnam�s security forces arrested three others on different allegations. Ms. Ma Phung Ngoc Phu was charged with the same allegation while Ms. Dinh Thi Thu Thuy and Dinh Van Phu were alleged with �conducting anti-state propaganda� under Article 117 while former prisoner of conscience Tran Duc Thach was charged with subversion.

Since the Cyber Security Law become effective in early 2019, Vietnam has arrested more than two dozens of Facebookers on allegations of �conducting anti-state propaganda� and �abusing democratic freedom� in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code, and sentenced 17 of them to between one and 11 years in prison, according to Defend the Defenders� statistics.

Along with arresting Facebookers and charging them with controversial criminal offenses in the national security provisions of the Criminal Code, security forces in different localities have summoned hundreds of local Facebookers for interrogation about their Facebook posts.

Regarding Covid-19 alone, around 300 Facebookers have been fined between VND5 million ($220) and VND15 million for disseminating news on the pandemic which are considered fake news by the communist regime. They were forced to delete their posts and promised not to repeat �wrongdoings,� according to the state-controlled media.

Vietnams� regime has also pressured on Facebook, reducing its local traffic by switching off their serves in the country so the American firm has been agreed to censor political posts in a bid to protect its economic interests in the market with over 65 million accounts, according to the recent report of Reuters.

On 27 April 2020, Chung Hoang Chuong, detained blogger, was sentenced to 18-month jail term over social media posts omn several human rights issues by the court of Can Tho City, Vietnam.

While the whole country is focusing on dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak, Vietnam�s communist regime does not forget to cement its political monopoly by intensifying its crackdown on local dissent, arresting the third activist within two weeks.

This time, its prey is former prisoner of conscience Tran Duc Thach, 68, from the central province of Nghe An, the home of late communist leader Ho Chi Minh. Thach is a founding member of the unregistered group Brotherhood for Democracy.

On April 23, security forces arrested Mr. Thach on allegation of conducting �Activities against the people�s government� under Article 109 of the country�s Criminal Code, with the highest punishment of 20 years in prison or even death penalty. Police conducted searching for his house, confiscating a laptop, cell phones, a camera as well as VND9 million ($380) and $400, according to his family.

According to the state-controlled media, Mr. Thach has been continuously posting and sharing numerous articles on Facebook with content to distort the regime�s policies with the aim to trigger social disorders amid the COVID-19 pandemic.�

He was arrested for the first time in 2009 and sentenced to three years in jail and three years of probation on a charge of �conducting anti-state propaganda� under Article 88 of the same Penal Code for claiming Vietnam�s Hoang Sa (Paracels) and Truong Sa (Spratlys), the two archipelagos also claimed by China, and demanding human rights improvement in the communist nation. Particularly, Thach, together with activists Vu Van Hung and Nguyen Xuan Nghia hang out a banner which states �Hoang Sa and Truong Sa belong to Vietnam� at Mai Dich Bridge in the capital city of Hanoi. His fellows were also jailed with lengthy sentences.

After leaving the army in 1975, Thach wrote a memoir named �Obsessive mass grave� to describe how communist soldiers assaulted innocent civil people while invading South Vietnam during the Vietnam War in which the communist soldiers with the support of China and the Soviet Unions as well as the communist bloc in Eastern Europe defeated South Vietnam backed by the US and its allies and unified the country in 1975. In 1976, he self-immolated to protest unfair policies of authorities in Nghe An province and Dien Chau district. Due to the act, his face was deformed.

The arrest of Thach was made three days after the communist regime rejected the appeal of human rights activist and environmental campaigner Nguyen Nang Tinh, upholding his sentence of 11 years in prison and five years of probation. Both Thach and Tinh are strongly protesting China�s invasions of Vietnam�s sovereignty in the East Sea.

Last week, China sent a diplomatic note to the UN Secretary-General to reaffirm its illegal claim of nearly entire East Sea, including the two archipelagos Paracels and Spratlys that Vietnam has controlled since the 18th century, and demand Vietnam to withdraw its crews and facilities in the resource-rich sea which is also very important for international trade.

Thach is the third activist being arrested within two weeks. On April 10, authorities in Can Tho arrested Ma Phung Ngoc Phu on allegation of �abusing democratic freedom� and eight days later, Dinh Thi Thu Thuy from Hau Giang province was detained and charged with �conducting anti-state propaganda,� both were arrested for their online posts which are considered harmful for the regime. The arrests were made after the call of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to release prisoners of conscience in a bid to protect their health amid increasing COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 20, the Higher People�s Court in Hanoi upheld the sentence of 11 years in prison and five years of probation against human rights activist Nguyen Nang Tinh, who is also strongly protesting China�s expansionism in the East Sea.

Vietnam�s communist regime has intensified its crackdown on local dissent from late 2015 when the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam prepared for its 12th National Congress. More than 100 activists have been arrested and charged with controversial allegations in the National Security provisions of the Penal Code or the Criminal Code, many of them were sentenced to lengthy imprisonments of between five and 20 years.

BFD is the group that suffered the most from the ongoing persecution campaign of the communist regime. Its nine key members were sentenced to between seven and 15 years in prison, and only two of them, human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai and his assistant Le Thu Ha were freed but forced to live in exile in Germany. It is unknown Thach�s latest arrest related to BFD. In 2017, when Vietnam�s police arrested six key members of the group, he was summoned to a police station and interrogated for days about his activities in it.

With the new arrests, Vietnam is holding at least 245 prisoners of conscience, according to Defend the Defenders�s statistics. More arrests are expected in the coming months as the ruling party is preparing for its 13th five-year congress slated in early 2021.

On 23 April 2020, Tran Duc Thach, pro-democracy defender, was arrested, his house searched by security forces for allegedly triggering social disorder via social media posts on COVID-19 in Nghe An, Viet Nam.

An appeals court in Vietnam on Monday upheld a lower court�s verdict in sentencing a Catholic music teacher to 11 years in jail for posting online criticisms of the one-party communist state and the government, the convicted man�s lawyer told RFA�s Vietnamese Service.

Nguyen Nang Tinh, 45, who teaches at a provincial arts and cultural college, was arrested in May 2019 after he was found writing and sharing what authorities deemed anti-state posts and videos on his Facebook account for seven years.

The posts included protests against Vietnam�s law on special economic zones that many citizens fear will favor Chinese investment in the country, and demonstrations against a Taiwanese company that dumped toxic waste into the ocean that caused an environmental disaster off the nation�s central coast in April 2016.

The Council of Judges of the People�s Court in north-central Vietnam�s Nghe An province upheld the 11-year sentence, plus five years of probation with restricted movement, that teacher Nguyen Nang Tinh was handed for the series of Facebook posts published between 2011 and 2018.

The presiding judge said the sentence served as a warning to those who wanted to capitalize on the rights to democracy and freedom by opposing the state, contradicting achievements in Vietnam�s progress with reform.

�At the appeals trial, Nguyen admitted to using Facebook accounts to share stories but affirmed that those stories were not aimed at opposing Vietnam�s government,� said defense attorney Dang Dinh Manh.

�I think this is an unfair sentence to give Nguyen, based on the defendant�s right to freedom of expression and on guarantees provided in the U.N.�s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that say everyone is entitled to express their own points of view,� he said.

Vietnam is a signatory to the multilateral treaty that commits its parties to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights, and rights to due process and a fair trial.

Dang noted that in writing the online posts, Nguyen had exercised his right to free speech guaranteed under Vietnam�s constitution and had contributed to improving state policies.

Hunger strike to resume

The teacher had been on a hunger strike while in prison between March 13 and April 17, during which time he was not allowed to pray, read religious books, or meeting with Catholic priests, Dang said.

Thought the music teacher ended the hunger strike when he was informed about his appeals trial, he now will resume it because that process is over, the attorney said.

Dang said that he and another attorney, Nguyen Van Mieng, spent two days traveling by private car from Ho Chi Minh City to Nghe An to take part in the trial.

Nguyen�s wife, Nguyen Thi Tinh, could not attend her husband�s trial on account of lockdowns in Vietnam to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which on Monday registered 268 confirmed cases but no fatalities.

On April 18, Vietnamese police arrested another social media user, Dinh Thi Thu Thuy, on charges of �smearing leaders,� state media reported.

The resident of Nga Bay in the southern province of Hau Giang has been charged under Section 117 of Vietnam�s Penal Code for making and spreading anti-state information and materials.

Dinh had created many Facebook accounts since 2018 to edit and share hundreds of posts and other materials opposing the state and smearing the Communist Party�s leaders, state media said.

Vietnam police reported in June 2018 that Dinh was also present at a demonstration outside Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica in Ho Chi Minh City to protest against proposed laws on the creation of special economic zones and on cybersecurity, the latter of which called for restrictions on the internet that would give the state greater surveillance and censorship powers.

Another Dong Tam arrest

Police also have arrested another resident of Hoanh village in the rural commune Dong Tam, where about 3,000 security forces conducted a violent early morning assault on residents during a land protest in early 2019 outside Vietnam�s capital Hanoi, an activist said.

On April 19, authorities picked up Nguyen Van Chung, son of Bui Thi Duc, a woman who is among 28 other villagers arrested during the bloody clash on Jan. 9, activist Trinh Ba Phuong told RFA on Monday.

The villagers apprehended following the incident have been charged with committing murder, illegally possessing weapons, and opposing officers on duty.

Nguyen was not arrested at his home in Dong Tam, but in Ho Chi Minh City, also called Saigon, where he was working as an assistant truck driver, Trinh said.

�Last night, he was arrested and cruelly beaten in Saigon,� Trinh said. �Those who witnessed the arrest questioned police about it, but they said that Nguyen was a dangerous person and had to be arrested.�

During a meeting with Hanoi authorities on the same day as the arrest, Vietnam�s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told officials to resolve the Dong Tam issue, consolidate the political system and develop new rural policies.

The Dong Tam clash was the latest flare-up in a long-running dispute over a military airport construction site about 25 miles south of Vietnam�s capital Hanoi.

A report drawn from witness accounts and released seven days after the Jan. 9 clash with security forces said that police had attacked first during the deadly incident that claimed the lives of the Dong Tam village chief and three police officers.

Though all land in Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint with residents accusing the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects and of paying too little in compensation.

On 20 April 2020, Nguyen Nang Tinh, pro-democracy defender, was confirmed a 11-year prison sentence for online criticising the Government by the second instance court in Nghe An Province, Viet Nam.

Vietnam�s communist regime has not stopped its crackdown on the local dissent amid increasing threat of COVID-19 outbreak nationwide, arresting the 7th activist so far this year.

On April 18, authorities in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang arrested female activist Dinh Thi Thu Thuy, charging her with �Making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam� under Article 117 of the country�s Criminal Code.

Ms. Thuy will be held incommunicado for at least four months during the investigation period and faces imprisonment of between seven and 12 years in prison if she is convicted, according to the current Vietnamese law.

Citing information from police, the state-controlled media reported that Ms. Thuy has created a number of Facebook accounts to disseminate numerous articles to distort the communist regime�s policies and defame its leadership. She was also accused of criticizing the communist regime�s measures in dealing with COVID-19.

Thuy is an activist participating in the mass peaceful demonstration in Ho Chi Minh City on June 10, 2018 which aimed to protest two bills on Special Economic Zone and Cyber Security. The first seeks to favor Chinese investors while the two countries are disputing over the East Sea (South China Sea) while the second bill which became law from 2019 strives to silence online government critics. She was detained, beaten and interrogated, and fined with money before being released.

In recent years, she has been under constant persecution of the local police who often summoned her to their station for interrogation about her posts on Facebook.

Thuy is the seventh detained activist and the second Facebooker being arrested since the beginning of 2020 on the allegation of �conducting anti-state propaganda.� The first was Dinh Van Phu, who is from the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong and was arrested on January 9.

In January-April, police in Can Tho City arrested Mr. Chung Hoang Chuong and Ms. Ma Phung Ngoc Phu on allegation of �Abusing democratic freedom� under Article 331 of the Criminal Code for their online posts.

In addition, authorities in Gia Lai detained three religious activists named Ju, Lup, and Kunh in mid-March after chasing them in the past eight years. The trio, who was forced to live in a forest during the past eight years, was likely charged with �Sabotaging implementation of solidarity policies� per Article 116 of the Criminal Code with imprisonment of between seven and 15 years. Vietnam�s communist regime often uses this allegation to imprison religious activists.

With the arrest of Ms. Thuy, Vietnam is holding at least 244 prisoners of conscience, 26 of them are held in pre-trial detention which may last more than two years, according to Defend the Defenders� statistics.

On 18 April 2020, Dinh Thi Thu Thuy, WHRD, was arrested by the police, held incommunicado for allegedly spreading false news on COVID-19 and tarnishing Government's reputation in Hau Giang Province, Viet Nam.

Ms. Truong Thi Ha reported that police in Quang Binh confiscated her personnel items including passport, diary and cell phone before placing her under quarantine when she returned from Thailand on a bus in late March.

Ha said she was kept by Vietnam�s security when she entered the homeland from Laos. In the past several years, Ha reportedly participated in short courses on human rights in the EU and has recently worked for a human rights group in Bangkok.

Ha said she was allowed to return to her parents� house without having the items confiscated by police. She expects to be summoned by security forces in the coming days for interrogation for her activities in recent years.

Ha is a young activist, participating in peaceful demonstrations in Ho Chi Minh City on June 10, 2018 to protest two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cyber Security. She was reportedly beaten by police after being detained and held for several days.

Graduated law in HCM City Law University, Ha has pledged to be a lawyer to assist vulnerable groups. She has done an internship with prominent human rights attorneys Le Cong Dinh and Tran Vu Hai.

On 16 April 2020, Truong Thi Ha, pro-democracy defender, was arbitrarily placed under quarantine and questionedby the police, his phone and Fecebook credentials were seized in Quang Binh Province, Vietnam.

Two prisoners of conscience Ngo Van Dung and Le Quy Loc have reportedly been beaten by police in Phan Dang Luu temporary detention facility under the authority of Ho Chi Minh City Police Department while waiting for their first-instance hearing.

The incident occurred on April 12, according to relatives of other prisoners of conscience who are held in the same facility. The information was passed after the regular visits on Friday which were resumed after months of suspension due to applied measures during the Coronavirus outbreak.

Accordingly, many prisoners of conscience held in the facility said that they saw dozens of policemen brutally assaulted the two men who were arrested in early September 2018 on allegation of �disruption of security� under Article 118 of the country�s Criminal Code for their plan to hold peaceful demonstrations.

In response, the prisoners of conscience and their cellmates protested the attacks by using their personal items and hands to knock their cell doors.

After that, the police took the two men out of the facility. One week later, they returned Loc to his cell and he told them that he suffered serious injuries and was hospitalized for treatment.

Meanwhile, Mr. Dung was transferred to Chi Hoa, another temporary detention facility also under the authority of HCM City Police Department. His relatives have yet to be permitted to visit him since late January.

Mr. Dung, 51, and Mr. Loc, 44, are members of the unregistered group Hi?n Ph�p (Constitution) which strives to educate the public about the human rights they are entitled to under Vietnam�s 2013 Constitution by disseminating the country�s 2013 Constitution among citizens. Its members were active during the mass demonstration in HCM City on June 10, 2018 in which tens of thousands of Vietnamese rallied on streets to protest the communist regime�s plan to approve two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cybersecurity

They were arrested in early September 2018 together with 6 members of the group named Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh, Mrs. Hoang Thi Thu Vang, Mr. Do The Hoa, Mr. Ho Dinh Cuong, Mr. Tran Thanh Phuong, and Ms. Doan Thi Hong. While Hanh and Vang were charged with the allegation of �disruption of security� under Clause 1 of Article 118 of the Criminal Code with imprisonment of between five and 15 years in prison, the other six are subjected to the allegation under Clause 2 of the same article with imprisonment of between two and seven years if are convicted.

All of them were kidnapped by HCM City�s police on September 2-4, 2018, and held incommunicado for months. Their families had not been informed about their detentions and charges for months after they went to different state agencies and police stations to ask for their status and found out that they were kept by the city�s police.

In order to prevent similar protests in early September 2018, Vietnam�s security forces launched a big campaign to persecute local dissent and all members of the Hi?n Ph�p group became their targets. Two other members of the group named Huynh Truong Ca and Le Minh The were arrested and convicted of �conducting anti-state propaganda� and �abusing democratic freedom,� respectively while three others were forced to relocate in Thailand to avoid being arrested.

The People�s Court of HCM City set up the first-instance hearing on their cases in late 2019 and early 2020 but postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak and other unclear reasons.

It is expected that the activists would be convicted and sentenced to lengthy sentences after Vietnam�s communist regime got all it wants, including the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). On February 12, the European Parliament approved the pact, ignoring the call for postponing the agreement by numerous international and Vietnamese human rights groups. Although the EU says the pact may be postponed or terminated if Vietnam�s human rights record gets worsened, it is unlikely Hien Phap activists will be freed or receive light sentences.

Vietnam continues to be among the world�s biggest prisons for activists, holding at least 247 prisoners of conscience, including ten members of Hi?n Ph�p group, according to Defend the Defenders� latest statistics.

Meanwhile, torture and inhumane treatment is still systemic in Vietnam although the country ratified the UN Convention on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 2014. Every year, dozens of suspects and inmates die in police custody and the authorities say their deaths were caused by illness, suicide or attacks of other inmates while their families and activists suspect that the real cause is police torture.

On 12 April 2020, Ngo Van Dung and Le Quy Loc, pro-democracy defenders and prisoners of coscience, were beaten by the police while in temporary detention in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.

On February 21, the People’s Court of Khanh Hoa province upheld the one year of non-custodial reform on human rights attorney Tran Vu Hai and his wife Ngo Tuyet Phuong on tax evasion charge under Article 161 of the 1999 Penal Code.

After one week, the court issued its final decision to keep the sentences given by the lower court, the People’s Court of Nha Trang City. Accordingly, Mr. Hai and his wife have to pay an administrative fine of VND20 million ($850) each for the crime they have not committed, according to the lawyers providing legal assistance for the experienced couple attorneys.

According to the indictment against them, they were accused of committing a tax evasion worth VND276 million in a property deal in 2014. Mr. Hai and his wife reportedly bought a land parcel from Khanh Hoa province-based citizenNgo Van Lam and Vietnamese Norwegian Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh. The deal value was about VND16 billion but the sellers reported to the local authorities just VND1.8 billion, by that way the sellers paid less tax for the deal. The province’s tax authorities had approved the deal.

Nearly two dozens lawyers took part in the appeal to protect Mr. Hai. Like in the first-instance hearing on November 15 last year, Khanh Hoa province’s authorities deployed a large number of police officers to block all the roads leading to the court areas and the lawyers were under strict security check-up before entering the courtroom. They were requested to leave all electrical devices, including laptops and cell phones outside. A few reporters of the state-run newspapers were allowed to enter the courtroom to cover the trial.

The defense lawyers said as buyers, Mr. Hai and his wife are not subjects for tax payment for the deal, and they are innocent since the province’s tax authorities approved the deal. Ms. Hanh is a citizen of Norway and the house she sold to Mr. Hai was the only house she owned so she is not required to pay tax for the deal, according to current Vietnam’s law.

Mr. Hai reported on his Facebook page that the judge ordered the representative of the Nha Trang tax authorities and the representative of the province’s Procuracy not to answer the questions of lawers.

Authorities in Khanh Hoa probed the case in early July last year and placed the four under restricted travel, including travel abroad. In addition, Khanh Hoa police also conducted searching Mr. Hai’s law office and private residence in Hanoi, in which they allegedly took away a large sum of money and documents from other cases.

It is clear that the allegation and convictions against Mr. Hai and his wife are political as recently the Ministry of Public Security denied Mr. Hai’s request for representing former prisoner of conscience Truong Duy Nhat who is accused of “power abuse” after being kidnapped in Bangkok and taken to Vietnam in late January.

Lawyer Hai is well-known for his participation in sensitive cases to represent victims of injustice, victims of forced land appropriation and political dissidents.

On 21 February 2020, Tran Vu Hai, human rights lawyer, and his wife Ngo Tuyet Phuong Khanh were sentenced to one-year jail term and fined over a false accusation by the court of Hoa province, Viet Nam.

Police officers from Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security have kidnapped Hanoi-based activist Nguyen Thuy Hanh for interrogation for hours about their assistance given to land petitioners in Dong Tam commune, My Duc district.

On the afternoon of January 20, Mrs. Hanh and her husband Huynh Ngoc Chenh went to the Vietnam Bank for Commerce (Vietcombank)’s branch in Ba Dinh district to question the bank for freezing her account with around VND528 million ($22,500) of donations for the family of Mr. Le Dinh Kinh, a 84-year-old resident of Dong Tam who was killed by police during the raid on January 9.

During a meeting with the bank’s representatives, Mr. Chenh recognized that plainclothes policemen were deployed in the office, probably the bank branch informed police for the presence of the couple.

After receiving unsatisfied answers from the bank’s representatives, the couple left the office to return home with their motorbike. Not far from the bank, they were stopped by police officers in plainclothes who said Hanh must to go with them to their office for “working.” Hanh was forced to go in their car and the vehicle went to the Security Investigation Agency under the Ministry of Public Security at Nguyen Gia Thieu street, Hanoi where many activists were interrogated and beaten.

During the three-hour interrogation, five police officers questioned about the 50K Fund she established last year for assisting prisoners of conscience and activist-at-risks, and the donations from Vietnamese in the country and abroad for Mr. Kinh’s family after the bloody police raid on January 9.

During the interrogation, police officers said they would arrest some other activists, including land petitioner and human rights defender Trinh Ba Phuong for his covering news on the brutal police attack in Dong Tam on January 9, Hanh said.

The abduction and the interrogation against Mrs. Hanh were made few days after her account in Vietcombank was suspended. On January 13, the Ministry of Public Security said on its website that the ministry had ordered local banks to freeze accounts of some activists, including Mrs. Hanh who have been receiving donations for persecuted Dong Tam residents. The ministry said the financial aids from people can help Dong Tam citizens purchase weaponry to deal with the government.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese activists continue to call for a boycott of Vietcombank’s service and ask the Japanese Mizuho to reconsider its investment in the Vietnamese bank. Currently, the Japanese side owns 15% stake in Vietcombank.

On 20 January 2020, Nguyen Thuy Hanh, WHRD, was temporarily kidnapped interrogated and threatened by police officers from Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security for organisign a crowdfunding activity in Hanoi, Viet Nam.

Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), the largest commercial bank in communist-ruled Vietnam, has frozen a bank account of Hanoi-based activist Nguyen Thuy Hanh after she receives a large sum of donations for deceased elderly leader Le Dinh Kinh, who was killed by police in Hanoi on January 9.

On January 17, Mrs. Hanh went to the bank to withdraw the money gift for the family of the Dong Tam commune’s moral leader, the bank told her this account has been frozen. Asked for the reason, the bank refused the answer. It only gave her a copied document, showing VND525.45 million ($22,000) have been frozen.

Hanh, who is managing the 50K Fund for assisting prisoners of conscience and activists-at-risks, called on Vietnamese in the country and abroad to make donations for the family of Mr. Kinh after the deadly raid of Vietnam’s police on January 9 in which they killed him and destroyed his house. In addition, police arrested his two sons and two grandsons as well as his adopted daughter and charged them with “murder.”

After the call, Hanh has received more than thousands of small donations from Vietnamese across the globe. She had been placed in de facto house arrest for more than a week and plainclothes agents were deployed near her private residence in Hanoi until Friday.

Meanwhile, prominent dissident and political writer Pham Doan Trang has alerted that Vietnam’s security forces have been pressuring those people who had sent money support to Dong Tam villagers to admit that they are members of a certain political party when they provided “financial support” to Dong Tam villagers.

The police’s sinister goal is to try with all their might to create the existence of a group of terrorists in Dong Tam, and use that as an excuse to “attack, destroy the terrorists,” with aim to cover up their crime of having mounted a large-scale, organised attack against Dong Tam residents on January 9, said Trang, who has been among activists who established the “Dong Tam taskforce” to compile, verify and announce publicly all information relating to the police brutal attack in the location.

After Mrs. Hanh announced Vietcombank’s act, hundreds of activists have called for a boycott of the bank’s services and urged people to withdraw their money from the bank. They urged the bank to reconsider its decision in Mrs. Hanh’s case otherwise it will face a widespread boycott.

This is the second case of freezing activists’ accounts of Vietcombank. In 2015, it made the same act against prominent political dissident Nguyen Thanh Giang. However, it reopened his account after receiving a threat of boycotts of activists in the capital city at that time.

In response to the call for the boycott against Vietcombank, Deputy Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang said the bank’s move was requested by the ministry in a bid to deal with terrorism. He said many contributors to Mr. Kinh’s family have admitted that their donations are for purchasing weapons against Vietnam’s police.

On its website, the ministry has requested people not to send donations for Mr. Kinh’s family. It also admitted that it ordered Vietcombank to freeze the bank account of Mrs. Hanh.

On 17 January 2020, Nguyen Thuy Hanh, WHRD, got her bank account frozen upon order of Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, after being held under de facto house arrest for over a week by the police in Hanoi, Viet Nam.

Vietnam’s communist regime has postponed the first-instance hearing to try eight members of the unregistered group Hiến Pháp (Constitution) on the allegation “disruption of security” under Article 118 of the country’s Criminal Code” for their intention to participate in a peaceful demonstration in early September last year, Defend the Defenders has learned.

The People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City made the decision to delay the trial on January 13, one day prior to the scheduled date, saying the postpone was due to the request of Mr. Le Quy Loc, one of the defendants, for summoning witness(es).

The court has not set the new date for the trial but it would be within 30 days from the day of canceling.

Some observers have linked the delay with the bloody attack of police in Dong Tam in which land rights activist Le Dinh Kinh was killed by riot police. The communist regime is willing to reduce social dissatisfaction which rose to its peak in the recent day so they don’t want people to get more anger from lengthy sentences which would be given for the group members.

According to the court’s announcement, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh and Mrs. Hoang Thi Thu Vang are charged with the allegation of “disruption of security” under Clause 1 of Article 118 of the Criminal Code with imprisonment of between five and 15 years in prison. Six others named Mr. Do The Hoa, Mr. Ho Dinh Cuong, Mr. Tran Thanh Phuong, Mr. Ngo Van Dung, Mr. Le Quy Loc and Ms. Doan Thi Hong are subjected to the allegation under Clause 2 of the same article with imprisonment of between two and seven years if are convicted.

All of them were kidnapped by HCM City’s police on September 2-4, 2018 and held incommunicado for months. Their families had not been informed about their detentions and charges for months after they went to different state agencies and police stations to ask for their status and found out that they were kept by the city’s police.

Hiến Pháp (Constitution) is a group of activists working to educate the public about the human rights they are entitled to under Vietnam’s 2013 Constitution by disseminating the country’s 2013 Constitution among citizens. Its members were active during the mass demonstration in HCM City on June 10, 2018 in which tens of thousands of Vietnamese rallied on streets to protest the communist regime’s plan to approve two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cybersecurity.

In order to prevent similar protests in early September 2018, Vietnam’s security forces launched a big campaign to persecute local dissent and all members of the Hiến Pháp group became their targets. Two other members of the group named Huynh Truong Ca and Le Minh The were arrested and convicted of “conducting anti-state propaganda” and “abusing democratic freedom,” respectively while three others were forced to relocate in Thailand to avoid being arrested.

Defend the Defenders considers eight jailed members of the group as prisoners of conscience and the accusations against them are groundless.

On 13 January 2020, eight HRDs detained for a peaceful protest held in Semptember 2018 got their trial postponed by the Court of Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.

Vietnam’s authorities have freed prisoner of conscience Tran Thi Nga but forced her to live in exile in the US.

Ms. Nga, who was arrested in February 2017 and sentenced to nine years in prison and five years of probation on charge of “conducting anti-state propaganda,” was taken from Gia Trung prison camp in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai to Noi Bai International Airport during the midnight of January 10 where she and her two sons and husband were taking a flight to Atlanta (Georgia, the US). The United States had granted her asylum.

She has always refused to recognize her guilt so she was being subjected to psychological torture, death threats and physical violence by fellow inmates and prison guards.

On 10 January 2020, Tran Thi Nga, WHRD, was released from prison but taken to the airport by the police upon court order and forced to leave to the US in Hanoi, Viet Nam.

Vietnam’s communist regime has detained the second Facebooker so far this year, accusing him of “abusing democratic freedom” under Article 331 of the country’s Criminal Code.

On January 11, authorities in the Mekong Delta’s economic hub of Can Tho detained a local resident named Chung Hoang Chuong, 43, for his online activities. He will be held incommunicado in next three days for preliminary investigation and the pre-trial detention would be kept longer for months.

According to a notice of Ninh Kieu district’s police, Mr. Chuong has conducted online activities which “Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, lawful rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens.”

His family told Defend the Defenders that he was detained at his cell phone shop in Ninh Kieu commune. Police also came to his private residence to confiscate his wife’s laptop and camera set.

Chuong’s detention came after he wrote and shared a number of articles on his Facebook account Chương May Mắn regarding numerous issues of Vietnam, including human rights abuse, serious nationwide environmental pollution, systemic corruption and the government’s weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea). His latest statuses on his Facebook page were about the military attack in Dong Tam commune carried out by the Ministry of Public Security and the Hanoi Police Department in the early morning of January 9 in which police killed at least two civilians.

Mr. Chuong has been the second Facebooker being detained for their online activities amid increasing crackdown on the local dissent.

On January 9, authorities in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong arrested Mr. Dinh Van Phu on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the country’s Criminal Code. Mr. Phu, 47, will be held incommunicado in the next three months and face imprisonment of between seven and 12 years if is convicted.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s government reportedly has pressured Facebook to remove articles criticizing the communist regime.

Since the Cyber Security Law become effective in early 2019, Vietnam has arrested nearly two dozens of Facebookers on allegations of “conducting anti-state propaganda” and “abusing democratic freedom” in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code, and sentenced 17 of them to between one and 11 years in prison, according to Defend the Defenders’ statistics.

On 11 January 2020, Chung Hoang Chuong, blogger, was arrested by the police as result of his online activities in Can Tho, Viet Nam.

Vietnam’s authorities continue its crackdown on Facebookers for the second year after implementation of the Cyber Security law, arresting the first activist on the allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code.

State media has reported that on January 9, police in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong arrested local resident Dinh Van Phu for his online activities and will keep him for at least three months for investigation. He will likely be held incommunicado during the pre-trial detention similar to other political cases.

According to the police, Mr. Phu, 47, was used several Facebook accounts such as “Jimy Nguyễn,” “Vinh Nguyễn Jimy,” and “Nguyễn Vinh” to disseminate articles and conduct live streams with content to distort policies of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam and its government as well as defaming its leaders.

He is accused of triggering social dissatisfaction and calling for street demonstrations to protest the communist government regarding human rights violations, environmental pollution, systemic corruption as well as a weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea).

Police also mentioned that Mr. Phu participated in the peaceful demonstration in Ho Chi Minh City on June 10, 2018 to protest two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cyber Security. The first was considered to provide privileges for Chinese investors amid Beijing’s increasing aggressiveness in the East Sea while the second aims to silence the local dissent. He was reportedly arrested, beaten and fined with VND750,000 for “causing public disorders.”

Along with targeting groups in order to prevent the formation of political parties and civil society organizations, Vietnam’s communist regime is striving to crack down on online activists. Last year, it arrested 21 Facebookers, 14 of them were charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” and five of them with “abusing democratic freedom” in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code. As many as 12 Facebookers were sentenced to between five and 11 years in prison on allegation of “conducting anti-state propaganda,” significant lengthier sentences compared to the same allegation in other cases in the previous decade.

The ruling communist party is preparing its 13th National Congress scheduled in early 2021 and it will tighten social life. It is expected more arrest and harassment against local dissent in coming months.

On 9 January 2020, Dinh Van Phu, blogger, was arrested and detained as result of his online sharing by the police in Dak Nong Province, Viet Nam.

Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have rejected to grant a passport for former prisoner of conscience Le Cong Dinh, denying his right to freely travel abroad.

Mr. Dinh, who was imprisoned five years in 2009-2013 on the charge of subversion, applied for a new passport in the Immigration Management Division of HCM City’s Police Department on December 4. Two weeks later, on December 16, he received a denial announcement from an officer from the division who refused to point out the reason for the refusal.

In August last year, the city’s police also rejected his application.

The US-educated lawyer is among the leading pro-democracy activists in Vietnam. He was arrested in 2009 and initially charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” and later changed into “subversion” in the same case of prominent activist and entrepreneur Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and Nguyen Tien Trung.

He continues to work for promoting human rights and multi-party democracy in Vietnam after being released in 203. This year, he is among the three activists winning annual prizes of the US-based Vietnam Human Rights Network.

Dinh is among more than 100 Vietnamese activists being barred from international travel. The Ministry of Public Security often uses government decree No. 136 to prevent political dissidents and human rights activists from going abroad with the common controversial reason “national security.” The communist regime has used a number of ways to halt their international travel by denial of granting passports, blocking at national border gates or confiscating their passports.

On 16 December 2019, Le Cong Dinh pro-democracy activist, was denied of being granted with a new passport by the Immigration Office in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.

Vietnamese authorities are blocking defense lawyers from speaking with a journalist detained for criticizing Vietnam’s government, saying that their investigation into the writer’s case has not yet finished, one of the two attorneys told RFA on Thursday.

Independent journalist Pham Chi Dung was detained on Nov. 11 by security officers at his home in Ho Chi Minh City and charged with conducting “anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code.

According to police, Pham wrote anti-state articles and cooperated with foreign media to deliver “distorted information,” with rights group Defend the Defenders saying that Pham had contributed to Voice of America and the BBC, using different pen names.

Pham will be held in detention for at least the next four months as police finish their investigation, and if convicted could face a sentence of seven to 12 years.

Speaking on Thursday to RFA’s Vietnamese Service, defense attorney Manh Dinh Dang said that prosecutors informed him and fellow lawyer Mieng Van Nguyen on Dec. 16 that they can confer with their client only when investigators have finished their work.

“This limits lawyers’ ability to get involved,” Manh said, adding that lawyers’ access to their clients is typically restricted under Vietnamese law in cases of “national security,” with some cases dragging on for years.

Also speaking to RFA, former political prisoner Dai Van Nguyen, who was arrested on Dec. 16, 2015 on identical charges, said that he had immediately asked for a lawyer’s help when police officers invaded his home to conduct a search.

“But a representative from the prosecutor’s office presented a document saying this would not allowed until the police investigation was completed,” Dai said.

“This practice is stipulated in the Criminal Code, but it violates Vietnam’s constitution, which makes no distinction between ‘national security’ violations and ordinary [criminal] ones."

According to Vietnam’s constitution, detainees have the right to meet with lawyers, and lawyers have the right to defend their clients, Dai said.

“However, the Criminal Code doesn’t allow for this,” he said.

Pressured to admit guilt

Speaking to RFA, activist Kha Nguyen Dinh, who was freed from prison in October 2018 after serving a six-year term for handing out leaflets criticizing government policy over disputed islands in the South China Sea, said he too had been denied the right to see a lawyer following his arrest.

“I was not allowed to contact anyone, and I had no legal consultation,” Kha said.

“Only after I had been led to say things they wanted to hear was I allowed to see a lawyer,” Kha said, adding that barring access to lawyers during police investigations makes it easier for officials to pressure detainees to admit their “guilt” or make other statements against their interests.

Vietnam has been consistently rated “Not Free” in the areas of internet and press freedom by Freedom House, a U.S.-based watchdog group.

Dissent is not tolerated in the communist nation, and authorities routinely use a set of vague provisions in the penal code to detain dozens of writers and bloggers.

Estimates of the number of prisoners of conscience now held in Vietnam’s jails vary widely, with Human Rights Watch putting the number in October at 138. The rights group Defend the Defenders meanwhile puts the number as at least 240, with 36 convicted this year alone.

Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Translated by An Nguyen. Written in English by Richard Finney.

On 26 December 2019, Vietnamese authorities are blocking defense lawyers from speaking with a journalist detained for criticizing Vietnam’s government, saying that their investigation into the writer’s case has not yet finished, one of the two attorneys told RFA on Thursday.

Authorities in Vietnam Sunday clashed with citizens over a Christmas nativity scene display in a part of Ho Chi Minh City that has been embroiled in a land dispute.

A group of Catholic residents of the Loc Hung Vegetable Garden settlement in Ward 6, the city’s Tan Binh district, were attempting to set up the nativity scene over the weekend, but police, plainclothes security agents and militia were dispatched to the area to prevent the display.

The residents then began to object, saying that authorities were violating their rights to religious freedom.

According to the Facebook account account ‘Vườn rau Lộc Hưng’ (Loc Hung Vegetable Garden’), the incident occurred at 9 a.m. Sunday when the local authorities pulled down a wooden frame that would have been a part of the display.

The Loc Hung residents resumed building their nativity scene in the afternoon, so the authorities came back to stop them.

This caused the residents to resist and authorities arrested Cao Thi Thu, Pham Trung Hieu and Pham Duy Quang for protesting.

The three were released by 10 p.m. that evening.

The nativity display’s statues of Christian religious figures Mary and Joseph were destroyed in the clash.

“Yesterday’s suppression was so brutal,” Pham Duy Quang told RFA’s Vietnamese Service Monday.

“By 3:30 p.m., we had gathered to pray and prepare to set up the nativity scene. After praying, a large force consisting of various Ward 6 agencies showed up to destroy [it],” He said, adding, “They beat us, drove [us] into corners.”

Pham said that the three were accused of inciting a ‘mass gathering to disrupt social order’ and were asked to cooperate in police reports at the Ward 4 police station.

Cao discussed how she was physically assaulted by authorities prior to her arrest.

“We only gathered there to protect the nativity scene,” she said.

“I stood behind to set up, but then a large force came along. I am 58 years old and I have really weak hearing. But I was beaten in the face and trampled,” said Cao.

“I felt a brick from somewhere hit my foot. It was so painful so I picked up the brick and threw it away and began to flee. That’s when they arrested me and accused me of throwing the brick [at them] which is an administrative violation,” she said.

She added that the police asked her to accept either detention or a 750,000 dong (U.S. $32.35) fine, but she refused.

“I replied ‘Absolutely not, I won’t pay even or you detain me, so I signed the report without any fear. I threw the brick because I was in pain from being beaten by them,” she said.

Pham Trung Hieu told RFA that while in detention the three had been threatened.

“Prior to letting us go, they told us that from that time on we should not follow Cao Ha Chanh (a longtime resident of the settlement) or anyone else [from there],” said Pham.

“In my opinion, they were only threatening us because we have been lodging complaints over the past 20 years [because of the land dispute],” he added.

RFA attempted to contact the Ward 6 People’s Committee and the Tan Binh district police Monday but received no reply.

Early this year, the area was a flashpoint in a controversial two-day operation in which authorities demolished at least 112 houses in the settlement claimed by the Catholic Church, displacing hundreds of residents, who sources say are political dissidents. Meanwhile, veterans of the former Army of South Vietnam made their homes in the settlement.

While all land in Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a point of contention as residents accuse the government of pushing small landowners aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation to those whose land is taken.

On 8 December 2019, three community-based HRDs were beaten and detained by the police for setting up a Christmas Nativity scene in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.

Police in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi on Sunday blocked access to a piano recital held in the city’s Opera House, roughing up a group of environmental activists who had hoped to attend and preventing them from entering, sources said.

The concert, titled “Awake” and performed by pianist Pho An My, featured an environmental theme, the civil society group Green Trees said in a Facebook posting after its members were turned away.

“A large crowd of security forces had gathered outside, just as if they were preparing to disperse a protest, and scores of people were roughed up,” the environmental advocacy group said, adding that paintings about the environment were forbidden from display in the concert hall.

“Security men were stationed every five meters [15 feet] surrounding the theater, and were stopping people from live-streaming or taking pictures. Only the security people were allowed cameras, and they pointed them at concertgoers like they were monitoring criminals,” Green Trees said.

“All gates to the theater were locked right after the concert started, so nobody could leave or enter, and no one could give the artist flowers.”

In its Facebook posting, Green Trees said that police may have thought that concert organizers had received funding from “foreign sources” by way of the environmental group, which also advocates for human rights, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly in the one-party communist state.

'They were brutal to us'

Speaking to RFA’s Vietnamese Service on Nov. 15, Green Trees member Cao Vinh Thinh said that she and her husband had arrived at the Opera House at about 7:30 p.m. on the evening of the concert.

“As soon as we stopped our motorbike next to the theater, we were approached by a group of about 10 people, two of whom I recognized because they have followed me around for years,” Thinh said, adding that the group ordered her to return home, later forcing her and her husband into a car and driving them home themselves.

“I’m very upset,” Thinh said. “We had bought two tickets, but the money doesn’t matter. What matters most is how they treated us.”

“They were brutal to us, and they deprived us of our rights as citizens. We hadn’t broken any law or rule,” she said.

Also speaking to RFA, pianist Pho An My said that she had only focused on her performance and was unaware of what was happening outside.

“I’m just an artist, and I want to express my thoughts. I’m not an environmental activist,” she said.

Calls seeking comment from police in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem district rang unanswered on Monday.

Civil society groups restricted

Independent civil society organizations are severely restricted by Vietnam’s communist government, which also controls all media, censors the internet, and restricts basic freedoms of expression.

On Oct. 25, Vietnamese authorities detained environmental activist and filmmaker Thinh Nguyen, a member of Green Trees, in what was thought to be the government’s response to a film, “Do Not be Afraid,” about other environmental activists who were detained for their advocacy.

Green Trees had called on Vietnam’s government just two years before to let it help monitor the payment of compensation to citizens affected by a massive toxic-waste spill in 2016 that left thousands jobless in four central coastal provinces.

On 24 November 2019, Ms Cao Vinh Thinh together with other environmental HRDs, were prevented by attending a public event on the environment by the police of Hanoi, Viet Nam.

Vietnam’s communist regime has convicted Mr. Huynh Minh Tam, 41, and his younger sister Huynh Thi To Nga, 36, of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the country’s Criminal Code for their online postings critical to the regime, Defend the Defenders has learned.

In the first-instance hearing on November 28, the People’s Court of Dong Nai found Mr. Tam and Ms. Nga guilty of “Making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” sentencing him to nine years and giving her to five years in prison.

According to their relatives, both Tam and Nga had no their own lawyers.

The indictment said they were posting numerous articles on their Facebook accounts criticizing the communist government for failing to deal with the country’s problems such as human rights abuse, systemic corruption, widespread environmental pollution, and weak response to China’s violations of the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea).

Ms. Nga, a technician in the Saigon-based Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital, reportedly to participate in the mass demonstration in Ho Chi Minh City on June 10, 2018 to protest two bills on Special Economic Zones and Cyber Security.

Mr. Tam was arrested on February 28 this year while his younger sister was kidnapped in her working place two days later. Police had not informed their families about the allegations against them and kept them incommunicado until their trial. Police also threatened their families, not allowing their relatives to contact with other activists.

Mr. Tam and Ms. Nga are among 21 activists being arrested this year for online activities, 14 of them were charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” and five were alleged with “abusing democratic freedom” in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code.

Vietnam’s communist regime has arrested 33 political dissidents, social activists and Facebookers so far this year, including prominent dissident journalist Pham Chi Dung. Hanoi has also convicted 39 activists, mostly on controversial allegations in the National Security provisions of the Criminal Code, sentencing them to a total 199.5 years in jail and 47 years of probation.

Vietnam is holding at least 240 prisoners of conscience, according to Defend the Defenders’ latest statistics. Hanoi always denies of holding any prisoners of conscience, saying it imprisons only law violators.

On 28 November 2019, Huynh Minh Tam and his younger sister Huynh Thi To Nga, bloggers, were sentenced to 9 and 5 years jail term respectively, as result of their online posting by the Court of Dong Nai, Viet Nam.

Vietnamese courts on Thursday sentenced six dissident bloggers and activists to long terms in prison amid a continuing crackdown on online expressions of dissent in the one-party communist state that has seen dozens of people jailed this year, sources said.

In southeastern Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, four men—Doan Viet Hoan, Vo Thuong Trung, Ngo Xuan Thanh, and Nguyen Dinh Khue—were handed prison terms of from 2.5 to three years each on charges of plotting to set explosives, for which no proof was shown in court, a defense attorney said.

“[Prosecutors] had no evidence to prove that the defendants were preparing explosions to go off on April 28, 2019," Nguyen Van Mieng—the lawyer for Nguyen Dinh Khue—told RFA’s Vietnamese Service after the trial.

“If they had wanted to cause explosions, they would have to have had wires, detonators, and material like that. But they had none of those things,” he said, adding, “The police only confiscated their cell phones and messages on the phones.”

Quoted by state media, a report prepared by prosecutors said the four men had gone online to read posts with “anti-state” content and had called for street protests on April 30, but Mieng said the men had wanted only to protest a price hike in electricity and gas and a law on special economic zones that many Vietnamese fear will favor Chinese investment in the country.

“They know nothing about how to make explosive devices,” Mieng said.

Unwarranted, unfair

In a separate case, a court in central Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa province sentenced Facebook user Pham Van Diep to a nine-year prison term for criticizing Vietnam’s government online for its handling of a 2016 toxic-waste spill that devastated the coastal areas of four Vietnamese provinces, leaving thousands jobless.

Speaking to RFA after the trial, attorney Ha Huy Son called Pham’s sentence unwarranted and unfair.

“He only expressed his opinion, and he did nothing to oppose the state,” he said. “He admitted what he did. He is critical of Marxism-Leninism and communism, but [the court] considers that a crime against the state of Vietnam.”

In another case, Facebook user Nguyen Chi Vung was handed a six-year prison term on Thursday by a court in southern Vietnam’s Bac Lieu province on charges of live-streaming anti-state content on his Facebook page and encouraging others to join in protests.

Call to delay trade talks

Meanwhile, prominent independent journalist Pham Chi Dung, who was detained at his home in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 21 for his criticism of the communist government, awaits investigation and trial on charges of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s penal code.

In a Nov. 22 statement, European Parliament envoy for trade talks with Vietnam Saskia Bricmont voiced shock at the news of the arrest of the former communist party member, noting that Pham had written earlier to the parliament’s president and to EU trade officials to alert them to Vietnam’s deteriorating human rights situation.

Saskia is now asking for a delay in the ratification of European trade and investment agreements with Vietnam “until a certain number of conditions are fulfilled,” she said.

“The essential condition is a reform of the criminal code and its implementation with United Nations standards,” Saskia said, adding, “To show its good faith, we also demand that Vietnam release [its] political prisoners without delay.”

Writing on Nov. 21, the day of Pham’s arrest, Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson called on the EU to “speak up for independent journalist Pham Chi Dung who simply called for Europe to demand real improvements in the human rights situation before ratifying the Europe-Vietnam [Free Trade Agreement].”

“By arresting Pham Chi Dung, Vietnam is showing its repressive intolerance of any dissenting voices and its determination to suppress efforts to foster an independent press in the country,” Robertson said.

“The EU, US and other like-minded countries should demand the immediate and unconditional release of Pham Chi Dung and the dropping of all charges against him.”

'Not Free'

Vietnam has been consistently rated “Not Free” in the areas of internet and press freedom by Freedom House, a U.S.-based watchdog group.

Dissent is not tolerated in the communist nation, and authorities routinely use a set of vague provisions in the penal code to detain dozens of writers and bloggers.

Estimates of the number of prisoners of conscience now held in Vietnam’s jails vary widely, with Human Rights Watch putting the number in October at 138. The rights group Defend the Defenders meanwhile puts the number as at least 240, with 36 convicted this year alone.

On 21 November 2019, four bloggers were convicted to jaoil terms of from 2.5 to three years each on fabricated charges by the Court of Dong Nai, Viet Nam.

A court in Vietnam sentenced a Facebook user to six years in prison on Tuesday for a series of posts he made on the social media platform that the Southeast Asian country's government said were "anti-state".

Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam's ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and does not tolerate criticism, and its dissent crackdown has shown signs of intensifying recently.

Nguyen Chi Vung, 38, was accused of "making and spreading anti-state information and materials" at the one-day trial at the People's Court of Bac Lieu province, in the Mekong Delta, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.

It said Vung had held 33 livestream sessions on Facebook "to share distorted information" and "encourage people to participate in protests during national holidays".

Reuters could not reach Vung's lawyers for comment.

Vung will be placed under house arrest for two years after serving his jail term, the statement said.

The court's Tuesday decision came days after a music teacher in the central province of Nghe An was convicted of the same offences and jailed for 11 years.

Facebook is widely used in the country and serves as the main platform for both e-commerce and dissent. Facebook said in May it increased the amount of content it restricted access to in Vietnam by more than 500% in the last half of 2018.

The ministry said in a separate statement on Tuesday that police in Nghe An have arrested a 23-year-old man accused of smearing the image of Ho Chi Minh and spreading anti-state propaganda on Facebook.

Last week, police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested freelance journalist and government critic Pham Chi Dung, accused of "anti-state" propaganda.

On 26 November 2019, Nguyen Chi Vung, blogger, was entenced to 6 years imprisonment term as result of his social media activity by the court on Bac Lieu, Viet Nam.

On November 26, Vietnam’s communist regime convicted five political dissidents and sentenced them to a total 20 years in prison and five years of probation in two separate trials which failed to meet international standards for a fair trial.

In the central province of Thanh Hoa, the provincial People’s Court found local Facebooker Pham Van Diep guilty of “Making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under the country’s 2015 Criminal Code. The court sentenced him to nine years in jail and five years of probation for online postings which were considered as “distortion of the communist regime” and “defamation of communist leaders” which led to social dissatisfaction.

Mr. Diep, 54, was arrested on June 29 this year. He has voiced against the communist regime for its socio-political policies and human rights abuse in the last 17 years.

On 26 November 2019, Pham Van Diep, blogger, was sentenced to nine years of jail for his online posting by the provincial Court of Thanh Hoa, Viet Nam.