Joint Statement by the Vietnam Human Rights Network and Defend the Defenders on September 27, 2025, about Prisoner of Conscience Trinh Ba Phuong Being Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison

 

On September 27, 2025, the People’s Court of Da Nang City opened a trial for activist Trinh Ba Phuong, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence, on charges of “propaganda against the State” simply because the police found in his cell the slogan “Down with the Communist Party that Violates Human Rights, Down with the Court That Wrongly Convicted Me.”

After just over three hours of a trial that did not comply with the principles of fair trial, in which lawyers were not allowed to present their defense and the defendant was gagged by the police, the court sentenced Mr. Phuong to 11 years in prison, a hefty sentence for someone serving a long sentence for the same charge provided for by Article 117 of the Penal Code.

With this sentence, Mr. Phuong must serve a total of 21 years in prison and five years of probation for his peaceful activities protesting the forced land acquisition of his family, as well as his activities protecting human rights and promoting democracy over the past many years.

Mr. Phuong is the fourth member of his family to be imprisoned by the regime, serving a total of 40 years in prison and five years of probation. His parents, Trinh Ba Khiem and Can Thi Theu, were previously imprisoned for protesting against the local government’s confiscation of land for commercial projects. His mother and younger brother, Trinh Ba Tu, are currently serving eight-year prison sentences each for speaking out against human rights violations.

The Vietnam Human Rights Network and Defend the Defenders believe that imposing this new sentence on Mr. Phuong is a form of cruel revenge by the one-party regime in Vietnam against him and other family members.

Along with the recent arrests of many former activists and harassment and threats against many others, the one-party government in Vietnam headed by To Lam is trying to use an iron fist to govern the country, not allowing the Vietnamese people to counterargue and give opinions as well as practice fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of speech provided by the 2013 Vietnamese Constitution and international human rights treaties that Vietnam has signed.

The Vietnam Human Rights Network and Defend the Defenders strongly protest the conviction of Mr. Trinh Ba Phuong in both the 2021 trial and the current trial. We call on Vietnam to drop the charges against him and release him immediately.

We also call on Vietnam to release prisoners of conscience who have been sentenced to prison for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and information. Vietnam cannot develop sustainably while policing the state apparatus and silencing all dissenting voices.

We call on democratic countries around the world to use economic, diplomatic, and defense leverages to pressure Hanoi to comply with international human rights treaties of which Vietnam is a member state.

 

Ngu Vu                                                                                    Tung Nguyen

Director                                                                                   Executive Director

Defend the Defenders                                                             Vietnam Human Rights Network 

 

 

 

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