Imprisoned Vietnam activist charged for writing ‘down with communism'
This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
Prominent Vietnamese land rights activist Trinh Ba Phuong is facing a second charge of anti-state propaganda after prison guards found a document in his cell that said, 'down with communism,' his wife told Radio Free Asia.
Phuong is already serving a 10-year prison sentence related to his dissemination of information about a 2020 land dispute where police clashed with villagers outside Hanoi.
Do Thi Thu, Phuong's wife, told RFA Vietnamese that he has been charged again under Article 117 of the Criminal Code which punishes 'making, storing, and disseminating' anti-state information – a charge commonly used against government critics.
'According to the investigator, in November 2024, my husband was found having papers and banners whose content were deemed against the state,' Thu said, adding that authorities at An Diem prison in central Quang Nam province where he is held forwarded those materials to the provincial security agency which decided to prosecute him.
She said the documents and banners were all written by Phuong to protest harsh conditions in An Diem prison and he kept them in his cell. One included the words, 'down with communism.'
An Diem prison is known for incarcerating political prisoners.
In April 2024, RFA reported on four prisoners of conscience, including Phuong, who were allegedly mistreated by the prison authorities.
'I am very upset about what the prison in Quang Nam province did to my husband! My husband's writing has no impact on society because he is in prison. They are just trying to punish him. Now facing another charge, the number of years my husband will have to spend in prison will be very high if the sentences pile up,' Thu told RFA.
Phuong's lawyer, Dang Dinh Manh, who has decades of experience in political cases, said it is unprecedented for a political prisoner to be prosecuted for expressing his opinions in prison.
'The suppression of political prisoners in communist prisons is quite common, but Trinh Ba Phuong's is the first case where a prisoner is criminally prosecuted for expressing their political opinions,' Manh said.
He said the latest charge against Phuong under Article 117 is 'baseless.'
'Article 117 only applies to acts against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The Communist Party is a political organization, not a state. There is also no provision that allows equating the Communist Party with the State,' he said.
Phuong's mother Can Thi Theu and younger brother Trinh Ba Tu are also imprisoned, serving 8-year sentences imposed in 2021, also on charges of spreading anti-state propaganda.
The family is known for opposing land grabs and for supporting farmers who have lost their land to development projects.
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