Today marks the fourth anniversary of Pham Doan Trang’s sentencing. On Dec. 12, as the anniversary approaches, an international coalition of human rights and press freedom organizations has once again called on the Vietnamese government to release the imprisoned journalist and writer, urging the international community to step up diplomatic pressure.

Pham Doan Trang, one of Việt Nam’s most prominent independent journalists and public intellectuals, was sentenced on Dec. 14, 2021, to nine years in prison on charges of “anti-state propaganda.” Her conviction came after more than a year of incommunicado detention that began with her arrest in 2020, widely seen as retaliation for her journalism and publishing work, including her role in founding Luật Khoa and The Vietnamese.