Key events:

• Hanoi Court Convicts Energy Policy Activist Ngo Thi To Nhien in Closed-Door Trial
• Vietnam Schedules Trial for Activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen for August
• U.S. Department of Commerce Postpones Ruling on Vietnam’s Market Economy Status

Hanoi Court Convicts Energy Policy Activist Ngo Thi To Nhien in Closed-Door Trial

According to Project88, the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced energy policy activist Ngo Thi To Nhien to three and a half years in prison in a closed trial on June 27 on charges of “appropriation of documents” under Article 342 of the Penal Code. The court did not disclose the details of Nhien’s conviction,

Nhien, executive director of the Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition Social Enterprise (VIET), became the sixth civil society leader arrested and convicted since 2021. The Vietnamese government has also imprisoned several other climate change leaders, including Dang Dinh Bach and Hoang Thi Minh Hong, on “tax evasion” charges. This is a ploy the government uses to silence environmental activists.