Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience Hold Hunger Strike to Protest Confiscation of Personal Items
Key Events
- Prisoners of Conscience in An Diem Prison Start Hunger Strikes
- Vietnam Deports a Belarusian Military Volunteer in Ukraine Back Home
- Binh Duong Police Arrest Former Socialist Theory Teacher for ‘Abusing Democratic Freedoms’
Prisoners of Conscience in An Diem Prison Start Hunger Strikes to Protest Confiscation of Personal Items
Four prisoners of conscience held at An Diem Prison in Quang Nam Province have initiated hunger strikes for weeks to protest the correctional authorities' confiscation of their books, pens, and writing paper. They include Trinh Ba Phuong, Hoang Duc Binh, Phan Cong Hai, and Nguyen Thai Binh.
Hai informed his family about the strikes when he completed his sentence and was released on Nov. 19, saying that the fasting began on the first day of November. He added that his fellow inmate, Hoang Duc Binh, developed acute health complications, including hematuria and stomachache, on the sixth day because he had kidney stones. Meanwhile, Hai and Binh ceased their strikes on the fifteenth day of November due to their weakened health conditions.
Binh and Phuong were also disciplined for alleged violations of prison regulations. Both prisoners are serving lengthy prison terms. Phuong was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of “distributing anti-state propaganda.” Binh was sentenced to 14 years on combined charges of “abusing democratic freedoms” and “resisting state officers on duty.”
As punishment, they have been limited to one family visit every two months instead of the normal monthly visit. According to the correctional authorities, these inmates showed no improvement in their behavior following the disciplinary period.
Do Thi Thu, Phuong’s wife, told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that she was deeply worried about the health of her husband, who is in the fourth week of his hunger strike as of Nov. 21.
Thu revealed that Phuong refused prison food due to hygiene issues, adding that he had his feet shackled for 10 days last year. Meanwhile, Hoang Duc Binh’s family paid him a visit after they learned about his critical condition, but they were not allowed to see him because they already met him last October; these prisoners may only receive one family visit every two months.
Vietnam Deports Belarusian Military Volunteer in Ukraine Back Home, Where He May Face Death Penalty
Hanoi has extradited a Belarusian military volunteer who fought against Russian aggression in Ukraine to Minsk, where he may face more than 20 years in prison or even the death sentence, Reuters reported.
Vasily Veremeychik, 34, volunteered for the Kastus Kalinouski Regiment, a military group that supports Ukraine. He was also a member of the Belarusian exiled parliament, which consisted of 80 individuals who worked with opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. In 2020, he participated in mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko before fleeing to Ukraine in 2021.
Belarusian television on Nov. 20 aired footage that showed a plane carrying Veremeychik landing in Minsk. A handcuffed Veremeychik was seen being escorted from the plane by two security guards whose faces were blurred; he was then forced into a van and disappeared.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, Belarus state media reported that Veremeichik was detained in Vietnam on Nov. 13 but was deported home the following day. The Lukashenko regime accused the military volunteer of joining a terrorist organization.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya wrote on X on Nov. 21 that Veremeychik travelled to Vietnam, which has adopted a visa-free policy for Belarusian passport holders after he was denied entry to the European Union.
Tsikhanouskaya called the military volunteer's extradition a “KGB-led operation” and asked foreign governments to accept people from this country seeking asylum from their totalitarian government. The exiled opposition leader also urged the international community to end cooperation with the regime by halting the extraditions and helping Belarusians with the legalization of their refugee status.
Binh Duong Police Arrest Former Socialism Teacher for ‘Abusing Democratic Freedoms’
The Binh Duong Provincial Police announced on Nov. 20 that they had arrested Bui Tien Loi, 56, a former lieutenant colonel who taught socialism at the College of Military Engineering, a school managed by the Ministry of National Defense.
Loi, a former head of the Department of Scientific Socialism at the military school, was charged with “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331 of the Penal Code. This law has been frequently used to silence government critics and political dissidents.
According to the investigative authorities, Loi had used social networking platforms, such as Facebook, to share “distorted and toxic” content against the party and state leaders and defamed the late Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, which allegedly provoked anger among the public.
State media also reported that the Central Inspection Committee previously decided to deprive Bui Tien Loi of party membership due to his postings on social networks that contained information “contrary to the viewpoints, policies and guidelines of the Communist Party and the state.”
The official page of the Communist Party reported that one of Loi’s controversial remarks included a statement he made in one of his videos in which he alleged that Hanoi’s claims in the South China Sea were not compliant with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Loi also reportedly shared his opinions regarding the death of Nguyen Phu Trong on his Facebook page, in which he questioned the late Marxist-Leninist ideologue’s contentious legacy. A Facebook page named “Tien Loi,” believed to belong to him, has over 6,700 followers. The last posting was dated Nov. 16.
Quick Takes
Politburo Issues Disciplinary Warning to Former National Assembly Spokesman Vuong Dinh Hue
On Nov. 20, the Politburo issued a disciplinary warning to Vuong Dinh Hue, former chairman of the National Assembly - one of Vietnam’s four pillars of political power. Last April, Hue was forced to resign over his “violations” of party and state regulations, a term often used to refer to corruption allegations. The legislature chairman was believed to have been a potential successor to the late Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong. Hue’s censure is viewed as an unprecedented incident as the individuals who serve in one of those four major positions are allowed to resign after committing wrongdoing without facing official criticisms or prosecutions.
Ministry of Home Affairs Proposes a Plan to Employ Cybersecurity Personnel
The Ministry of Home Affairs says it needs around 65 billion dong ($2.5 million) a month to employ cybersecurity professionals and digital transformation personnel - a plan was said to improve Vietnam’s capability to build an e-governmental administration system and safeguard the country’s cyber infrastructure. The Home Affairs Ministry has not announced the occupational background of the proposed positions. Currently, the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention, a provision of the Ministry of Security, is the main task force deployed to prevent and conduct investigations into cyber crimes, including internet users accused of criticizing the government.
Former Policeman Imprisoned for 12 Years for Torturing Suspect to Death
A court in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 20 sentenced Vo Thanh Dat, a former police lieutenant, to 12 years in prison for beating a suspect to death in the District 11 police detention center. The other two detainees, Quach Bao Lam and Lu Hoai Thanh, each received eight and a half years and seven and a half years sentences for assisting Dat in torturing Trieu Quang Binh, a theft suspect. They were convicted of “using torture,” a violation of Article 373 of the Penal Code. The former police officer said he let Lam and Thanh join him in assaulting Binh because this suspect reportedly caused disturbances in the cell. The forensic examination concluded that the victim died from respiratory failure due to acute pulmonary edema and soft tissue injuries.
Vietnam Insight: Learn more about Vietnam
Journalist Pham Chi Dung Marks 5 years in Prison in Vietnam
VOA News/ An Hai/ Nov. 21
“For Pham [Chi Dung], life in Xuan Loc Prison, in Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, is tough.
Prison authorities allow a one-hour visit every month, when visitors can bring in essential food items that have to be screened. And he is allowed an unannounced 10-minute home phone call every month, according to a family member who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.
Despite his situation, Pham remains resolute, the family member said.
“Maybe because the time spent in prison was quite long, his spirit seemed full of endurance and acceptance of fate as he is going to mark five years in jail, out of 15 years of the difficult and challenging journey that he has to go through,” the family member told VOA.”