In honour of TRAN Huynh Duy Thuc
 
Born in 1966, engineer Tran Huynh Duy Thuc was a successful IT entrepreneur playing a pioneer role in Vietnam’s private sector IT in the late 1990s and early 2000’s. He started to blog on the topics of government reform and human rights in 2008.  On 24 May 2009, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc was arrested under the initial charge of “promoting anti-government propaganda” under Article 88 of the Vietnamese Penal Code for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. On 20 January 2010, in a one-day trial, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and his three co-defendants – Le Cong Dinh, Nguyen Tien Trung and Le Thang Long – were prosecuted at the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City for “conducting activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration” under Article 79 of the Penal Code. Thuc was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment followed by 5 years of house arrest. In 2012, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) adopted the opinion that Thuc and his three co-defendants’ detention violated the right to freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as well as the right to liberty and security of person (Article 9) and the right to freedom of association (Article 21). He is currently serving his sentence at Xuyen Moc Prison, in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province.
 
 
July 2015