This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now licensed for reprint.
After prison guards discovered a document in his body that read, “down with communism,” important Asian land rights campaigner Trinh Ba Phuong is facing a second command of anti-state advertising, his wife reported to Radio Free Asia.
According to Phuong’s disclosure of information about a 2020 area dispute where police clashed with people outside Hanoi, he is currently serving a 10-year jail sentence.
Would Thi Thu, Phuong’s family, disclosed to RFA Vietnam that he had been charged with a second time under Article 117 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits “making, storing, and disseminating” anti-state knowledge, a practice common practiced against government reviewers.
According to the inspector, my father was discovered in November of this year having papers and banners whose contents were deemed offensive to the state, according to Thu.
She claimed that Phuong kept the documents and banners in his body in order to rally the harsh conditions at An Diem jail. One of the phrases “down with communism” was included.
An Diem captivity is known for enraging political prisoners.
RFA received a report on four prisoners of consciousness, including Phuong, who were reportedly mistreated by the prison authorities in April 2024.
” I’m really upset about what my husband’s imprisonment in Quang Nam state caused him” Because he is imprisoned, my father’s writing has no effect on society. They are merely attempting to discipline him. My father will spend a lot of time in jail if the words stack up, Thu told RFA.
It is extraordinary for a democratic slave to be prosecuted for expressing his views in prison, according to Phuong’s attorney, Dang Dinh Manh, who has decades of experience in social situations.
Trinh Ba Phuong’s is the first instance in which a slave is criminally prosecuted for expressing their political views, according to Manh.” The reduction of political prisoners in communist prison is very popular, but Trinh Ba Phuong’s is the first scenario where a slave is criminally prosecuted for expressing their political thoughts,” Manh said.
He claimed that Phuong’s most recent allegations under Article 117 are “baseless.”
” Works against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are exempt from Article 117.” Not a status, but a political party, the Communist Party. Additionally, he claimed that there is no rule that permits comparing the Communist Party to the State.
Is Thi Theu, Phuong’s mother, and Trinh Ba Tu, his younger brother, are both imprisoned and serving 8-year sentences for spreading anti-state advertising.
The community is renowned for opposing area catches and supporting farmers who have been harmed by development projects.
