Human rights defender Trương Van Dũng sentenced to six years in prison
On 28 March 2023, land rights activist and human rights defender Trương Van Dũng was sentenced to six years in prison by the Hanoi People’s Court for “conducting propaganda against the state" under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code.
On 14 March 2018, human rights defender Nguyen Thuy Hạnh was arbitrarily detained and questioned for several hours by Hanoi police. After travelling to the Public Security station where Nguyen Thuy Hạnh was being held, fellow human rights defender Trương Van Dũng was taken into the station, deprived of his possessions, and interrogated. When he refused to allow police to access his phone, police officers beat him severely, later leaving him badly injured on the street outside his home.
Trương Van Dũng has participated in human rights activities for several years, most actively on behalf of victims of land appropriation by Vietnamese authorities and other government injustice. He is a founding member of Hôi Bâu Bi Tương Thân, an organization that mobilizes Vietnamese citizens to support prisoners of conscience. In his work with Hôi Bâu Bi Tương Thân, Dũng makes frequent trips to offer support to families of these prisoners and join them in their trips to prisons. Trương Van Dũng has been harassed and physically assaulted on multiple occasions in retaliation for his human rights work, including a 2013 beating resulting in three broken ribs.
On 28 March 2023, land rights activist and human rights defender Trương Van Dũng was sentenced to six years in prison by the Hanoi People’s Court for “conducting propaganda against the state" under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code.
The human rights defender Trương Van Dũng was arrested in May 2022 on the charges of ‘conducting propaganda against the state’. After his arrest, he was held incommunicado for more than nine months and was not allowed to see his family. The human rights defender Trương Van Dũng was allowed to meet with his lawyer after ten months in March 2023.
The sentence is the latest in the series of reprisals the human rights defender Trương Van Dũng has faced due to his human rights work advocating for land rights and for the rights of political prisoners in Vietnam. Additionally, the human rights defender has also been active in numerous protests on environmental rights, in favour of transparent elections and against restrictive legislation such as the 2018 Cybersecurity Law. On 14 March 2018, the human rights defender Trương Van Dũng was arbitrarily detained and questioned for several hours by Hanoi police. The police officers beat him severely and left him badly injured on the street outside his home.
Trương Van Dũng is a founding member of Hôi Bâu Bi Tương Thân, an organisation that mobilises Vietnamese citizens to support prisoners who have been jailed for their political or religious beliefs. In his work with Hôi Bâu Bi Tương Thân, Dũng makes frequent trips to offer support to families of these prisoners and join them in their trips to prisons.
On 14 March 2018, human rights defender Nguyen Thuy Hạnh was arbitrarily detained and questioned for several hours by Hanoi police. After travelling to the Public Security station where Nguyen Thuy Hạnh was being held, fellow human rights defender Trương Van Dũng was taken into the station, deprived of his possessions, and interrogated. When he refused to allow police to access his phone, police officers beat him severely, later leaving him badly injured on the street outside his home.
Trương Van Dũng and Nguyen Thuy Hanh’s human rights work includes activism on behalf of victims of land appropriation by Vietnamese authorities. Trương Van Dũng is afounding member of Hôi Bâu Bi Tương Thân, an organisation that mobilises Vietnamese citizens to support prisoners who have been jailed for their political or religious beliefs. Both defenders regularly organise assistance for families of jailed human rights defenders and join them on prison visits. Trương Van Dũng has been harassed and physically assaulted on multiple occasions in retaliation for his human rights work. In October 2013, police confiscated the possessions of land appropriation victims gathered outside the Thuy Ke police station in Hanoi. After Trương Van Dũng visited the police station to request the return of these items, police violently beat the defender, breaking three of his ribs.
On 14 March, Nguyen Thuy Hạnh and Trương Van Dũng travelled together to attend a public protest activity. While departing from the event at approximately 11am, Nguyen Thuy Hạnh was taken into police custody without warrant or explanation. The defender was taken to the Number 3 Nguyễn Gia Thiều Reception of the Ministry of Public Security, where she was questioned for several hours on her attendance at the protest, her fundraising activities for prisoners, and her dissemination of copies of a book by another human rights defender, Pham Doan Trang. At approximately 6pm, seven hours after her arrest, the defender was finally allowed to notify family of her whereabouts. She was released from detention at 10pm that evening.
Upon learning of Nguyen Thuy Hạnh’s location, a group of friends planned to meet at the prison to call for her release. Trương Van Dũng arrived first at the station and was waiting outside for Nguyen Thuy Hạnh’s other supporters when he was asked by two plainclothes officers to accompany them inside.
Trương Van Dũng was subsequently forced to empty his pockets and his wallet was confiscated. When police asked to be granted access to his iPhone, the human rights defender refused, shattering the phone on the table. Police officers then attacked Trương Van Dũng, striking his face and body, kicking and stamping on him. After the defender lost consciousness, an attempt was made to put him in a taxi. When the taxi driver refused to take an unconscious passenger, one of the officers accompanied him and left the human rights defender lying on the street near his home. Trương Van Dũng lost two teeth as a result of the beating and was hospitalised later that evening for his injuries.
Front Line Defenders condemns the physical assault on Trương Van Dũng and the arbitrary detention of Nguyen Thuy Hạnh as it believes both acts were carried out in relation to their peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights.
