Nguyễn Hữu Vinh is a prominent Vietnamese blogger, who is more widely known by his pen name, Anh Ba Sam. Vinh founded the Ba Sam blog in 2007, which covered stories on Chinese aggression in the East Sea and the outcry following the placement of a Chinese oil rig in Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone. Vinh was a police officer until 1999, when he quit the force to start his own investigation firm. He eventually launched several blogs, including Dan Quyen (Citizens’ Rights) and Chep Su Viet (Writing Vietnamese History) in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

More information:

• http://globalvoicesonline.org/2014/12/11/jailed-female-photo-journalist-on-hunger-strike-in-vietnam/

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Note on Penal Code provisions:

A revised and expanded penal code took effect January 1, 2018 (known as the “Amended 2015 Penal Code”). While the previous provisions criminalizing political expression remained unchanged, they were renumbered. For instance, Article 79 (attempting to overthrow the government), Article 88 (anti-state propaganda), and Article 258 (abusing democratic rights) were renumbered as Article 109, Article 117, and Article 331, respectively.

For consistency with past media coverage, our database records the Article(s) that the prisoner was charged with (i.e., based on the version of the penal code applicable at the time of the sentencing).

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