Statement by the Vietnam Human Rights Network (VNHRN) and Defend The Defenders (DTD) on July 11, 2025, about the Prosecution of Writer and Independent Journalist Doan Bao Chau

 

On July 3, 2025, a group of nearly 20 people from the People’s Procuracy and the Hanoi City Police came to the private home of writer, independent journalist and martial artist Doan Bao Chau to read the arrest warrant, search warrant and decision to prosecute him on the charge of “disseminating anti-state documents” under Article 117 of the Vietnamese Penal Code.

At that time, Mr. Doan Bao Chau was not at home. According to his family, those people did not give them the documents because they “did not have signatures” but said they would invite Mr. Doan to the police station, deliver these documents the following week.

Before that, on June 19, 2024, the Vietnamese authorities also summoned Mr. Doan for investigation and banned him from leaving the country.

Mr. Doan Bao Chau is the author of six published novels. He is also a freelance photojournalist, having collaborated with several international news agencies such as AP, Reuters, AFP, and the New York Times. He writes and conducts interviews on Facebook on topics such as human rights, the living conditions of political prisoners, land disputes, and the environmental impact of thermal power plants. He also raises funds to support families of political prisoners and help victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in addition to his cultural and martial arts activities.

Considering that the Vietnamese communist government’s prosecution of Mr. Doan Bao Chau on charges of “propaganda against the State” is baseless and arbitrary, violating the rights to freedom of speech and freedom of information.

Therefore, the two organizations, Vietnam Human Rights Network (VNHRN) and Defend the Defenders (DTD), request that the Hanoi city authorities drop all charges against Mr. Doan and end all harassment and repression against him and his family.

We also call on democratic governments, human rights organizations, the Vietnamese people, along with the international community, to speak out against the Hanoi government’s persecution of Mr. Doan Bao Chau, as well as activists and journalists in other localities in similar cases.

Vietnam cannot begin a “new era” by continuing to suppress peaceful dissent and imprison courageous journalists who speak out about the country’s current situation.

Co-signers:

- Tung B Nguyen, Executive Director of the Vietnam Human Rights Network

- Ngu Q Vu, Director of Defend The Defenders

 

 

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