Vietnam: Independent Blogger Huynh Thuc Vy Beaten And Strangled By Prison Guards
Location: Vietnam, Bangkok
Date: October 9, 2022
Independent blogger and human rights advocate Huynh Thuc Vy suffered a beating and strangling by prison guards. Vy is presently serving a 33-month prison sentence at Gia Trung Prison. The Coalition For Women In Journalism strongly condemns the mistreatment of Huynh Thuc Vy.
Huynh Thuc Vy has reported on the political and socio-economic climate and environmental and human rights matters in Vietnam since 2008. Vy has been associated with the Vietnamese Women for Human Rights, a non-profit and independent organization supporting the families of activists and prisoners of conscience. She is one of the founders of the advocacy group and the eldest child of former political prisoner Huynh Ngoc Tuan.
In November 2018, Vy was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for affronting the national flag, a criminal offence under Article 276 of Vietnam’s penal code. She was charged for an online post of herself next to a national flag vandalized with paint.
On August 9, 2018, Vy was arrested by police in Dak Lak province’s Buon Ho town after numerous previous summon refusals to present herself to their offices for interrogation.
Following her half-day trial, Huynh spoke to RFA’s Vietnamese Service and said that “the judges simply took out their ready-made sentence and read it out.” Vy added that the sentencing court had failed to prove the case against her.
During the trial, Huynh’s lawyer Dang Dinh Manh made three specific points which were not taken into account by the court. Vy said:
“First, not just any red flag with a gold star can be considered to be the national flag, because the size of the country’s flag is specified by Vietnam’s constitution, and the flags that I sprayed paint on were of different sizes.”
Second, Manh argued that Vy had acted from a political motive rather than from any inclination to deface the national emblem.
Third, Article 276 of Vietnam’s Penal Code does not conform to the rights of political expression guaranteed by the U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Vy’s sentence was postponed for three years due to the age of her young children. In November, 2021, she was forced to carry out the sentence.
On Sunday, October 9, 2022, while carrying out her sentence Vy was assaulted by a prison guard. She was “beaten and choked” were the words uttered to her six-year-old daughter during a prison visit while hugging her goodbye. Vy has been the target of infliction of physical and psychological distress for allegedly helping other inmates. She has been denied proper medical supplies and treatment as well as family visits.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is dismayed by the ill-treatment of Huynh Thuc Vy and condemns such egregious acts of violence against women journalists. We extend our support to Vy and her family and urge the Vietnamese authorities to investigate the incident and hold the culprits accountable thoroughly.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.