Nguyen Bac Truyen is a legal expert who promotes freedom of belief in the Mekong Delta region and is head of a former prisoners of conscience organisation. He has also provided free legal assistance to victims of land grabs, campaigned for multi-party democracy and called on the Vietnamese Government to release all political prisoners.
Human rights defenders working for accountability and democracy in Vietnam receive accusations of being “foreign spies or agents”, “traitors”, or “violators of public order and peace”. HRDS are also subjected to intimidation, threats, interrogation, harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention. When put on trial, they are very often sentenced to heavy jail terms for their human rights work, and mistreated in prison.
