Pham Doan TRANG
An author, journalist, and pro-democracy activist, Pham Doan Trang remains in prison after her appeal against her nine-year prison sentence for ‘conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’ was rejected by the Hanoi People's High Court on 25 August 2022.
On 6 October 2020, Trang was detained during a raid on her apartment in Ho Chi Minh city as part of a joint operation by Hanoi Police and officials from the Ministry of Public Security.
While detained, Pham Doan Trang was denied access to legal counsel and medical care for over a year and was finally granted permission to meet with her lawyer on 19 October 2021. Her ill-treatment by the Vietnamese authorities raises serious concerns in relation to her pre-existing health conditions, such as low blood pressure and chronic pain, resulting from her legs being severely injured after she was assaulted by the police in 2015.
On 25 October 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found her detention to be arbitrary and called for her immediate release. On 14 December 2021, the Vietnamese authorities sentenced Trang to nine years’ imprisonment under Article 88 of the 1999 Penal Code. On 1 October 2022, Pham Doan Trang was transferred to a prison located approximately 100km north of Ho Chi Minh City, further hampering visits from her family and legal representatives.
Born on 27 May 1978, Pham Doan Trang’s published works include Chính trị bình dân (Popular Politics, 2018), Cẩm nang nuôi tù (Handbook on Supporting Prisoners, 2019), Phản kháng phi bạo lực (Non-Violent Opposition, 2019) and numerous other works. She has also sought to publish her writing online, through her blog and social media, in order to overcome state censorship of traditional media and to raise awareness of human rights issues in Vietnam. Trang has received multiple awards for her work, including the Reporters Without Borders 2019 Press Freedom Prize for Impact, and on 16 May 2024, Trang was awarded PEN America’s 2024 PEN/ Barbey Freedom to Write Award.