The Vietnam Briefing, released every Monday morning at Vietnam time, looks at Vietnam’s social and political developments of the past week.

Vietnamese Facebook user imprisoned over “anti-State” charge

• A Vietnamese court in Ha Tinh Province on July 13 sentenced Nguyen Duc Hung, a local blogger and user of social media, to five and a half years in prison and two years of probation on the charge of “making, storing, and distributing anti-State propaganda and materials” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s 2015 Penal Code, state media reported.
• According to the indictment via state media, between 2016 and 2021, Hung created several social media accounts, including two Facebook accounts named “Nguyen Duc Hung” and Nguyen Duc Hung Sbr,” to publish information that was “distorted” and “contained anti-State propaganda.” Hung was also accused of calling other people to join private groups on social media, which were created to “defy the State.”
• Vietnamese authorities alleged that Hung’s activities had “affected the implementation of the Communist Party’s and State’s policy,” “divided national unity,” as well as “threatened the country’s order and security.”
• Nguyen Duc Hung, who is a Christian, was known for his activism on social media, where he regularly raised his voice regarding the Vietnamese government’s human rights violations, the illegal confiscation of Thien An Abbey’s land, and the wrongful conviction of Ho Duy Hai, among other things, according to The 88 Project. Hung was arrested and charged with Article 117 on January 6, 2022.
• Hanoi has frequently used Article 117 and Article 331 in the country’s penal code to arrest and convict pro-democracy activists and local dissidents. These law codes have been widely criticized by legal professionals and attorneys for their infringement on the Vietnamese citizens’ freedom of expression.

Journalist Pham Doan Trang receives the 2022 International Press Freedom Award

• The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ,) an organization advocating for press freedom worldwide, announced on July 14 the names of journalists who were awarded its 2022 International Press Freedom Award. Vietnamese journalist Pham Doan Trang, who was sentenced to nine years in prison on “anti-State” charges last December, is among CPJ’s honorees this year. The awarded journalists will be honored during a live gala dinner on November 17, 2022, in New York City.
• This year’s awardees include three other journalists and one editor from Iraqi Kurdistan, Cuba, Ukraine, and Russia. According to the CPJ press release, these journalists “have withstood immense challenges, including government crackdowns, aggression, and imprisonment to bring the public independent reporting amid rampant disinformation and war.”
• “Our award winners exemplify the best of journalism: work that shines a light on the impacts of war, corruption, and abuse of power on everyday lives,” CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg said in a statement. “We look forward to honoring these inspirational journalists, who demonstrate the central role journalism plays in serving the public good.”

Local residents clash with riot police over the dismantling of a civil road

• On the morning of July 13, a clash broke out between residents of Nghi Thuan Ward in Vietnam’s Nghe An Province and the riot police as a result of the local authorities’ decision to destroy a road to clear land for an industrial project, RFA reported, with confirmation from local witnesses.
• According to the witnesses, Nghe An authorities on July 13 deployed hundreds of riot policemen and plainclothes police, armed with batons, shields and tear gas, to guard against the destruction of Route No. 5, a local road leading to the Nghi Loc Village in Nghi Thuan Commune. The road is reportedly situated in the land of the WHA Industrial Zone, which is part of an industrial project previously approved by the government.
• Although an alternative route has been built by the industrial zone’s management, local residents are still frustrated because the new road is built and controlled by the industrial zone’s investors. They expressed concerns that the project manager can arbitrarily force the road to close at any time to serve the project’s own interests. Some villagers claimed they had never been consulted about the plan to replace the old civil road with a new route.
• The clash broke out when local people tried to force their way past the police line to approach the construction site. A video circulated on social media, which is believed to have been recorded by local witnesses, shows some of the protesters throwing Molotov cocktails at the police. One riot policeman was also seen being beaten by the villagers. The riot policemen responded by firing tear gas and then rounding up and arresting several villagers.
• Father Nguyen Dinh Thuc, a pastor of a nearby parish, told RFA that at least five people were detained after the clash, adding that the police also confiscated the protesters’ vehicles. Thuc said that the police remained in the village long after the protesters were dispersed. Nghe An provincial police on July 14 confirmed that 10 villagers were arrested after the clash.

A local man dies in police custody after cockfighting arrest

RFA: