Vietnamese authorities announced on Friday that they arrested and charged Truong Huy San, a prominent journalist, with violating the national security law by posting on Facebook criticizing the country’s government. Tran Dinh Trien, a lawyer, was arrested alongside San and faces similar charges.
According to the Ministry of Public Security, San—whose legal name is Huy Duc—and Trien’s articles on Facebook were violating the law, undermining the state’s interests and taking advantage of democratic freedoms. News of San’s arrest followed shortly after he failed to appear at an academic conference where he was due to speak on June 1. Both men were ordered detained for prosecution, and national security officials have conducted searches of their private homes and workplaces, and their social media accounts have been suspended.
The men are charged with violating Article 331 of the penal code, which covers those criminal acts that “abuse the rights to democracy and freedom to infringe upon the interests of the state.” Conviction under this offense is punishable by up to seven years in prison.
The national security law is frequently criticized for its overly broad nature, enabling authorities to exercise blanket censorship over government critics. Globally, NGOs and watchdog organizations have expressed concern for the deterioration of press freedom in Vietnam under Article 331 and the new government, now led by former public security minister To Lam after his promotion to President last month following the resignation of his predecessor.
“By wrongfully arresting Huy Duc, the Vietnamese authorities are targeting one of Vietnam’s courageous and influential journalists,” Patricia Grossman, associate Asia Director at Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated. “International donors and Vietnam’s trade partners should denounce Huy Duc’s arrest as a blatant assault on free expression and urge his immediate release.”
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans Frontières, RSF) also called for Duc’s immediate release:
The articles of independent journalist Huy Duc are an invaluable source of information enabling the Vietnamese public to access censored information by the Hanoi regime. We call on the Vietnamese authorities to immediately release this journalist and to reinstall his Facebook page.
Since 2016, journalists in Vietnam have experienced a tightened crackdown on press freedom and free expression in the Southeast Asian country. Journalists who are critical of the government regime are routinely accused of “disseminating propaganda” and “abusing democratic freedoms,” facing lengthy prison sentences. In 2021, Pham Doan Trang, a prominent journalist labeled “one of the leading figures of the contemporary Vietnamese dissent” was sentenced to nine years in jail. According to RSF, 36 journalists have been detained in Vietnam as of December 29, 2023.
