Nguyen Trung Truc is a fisherman and a community organizer. Truc is a member of the Brotherhood for Democracy, an organization that promotes civic engagement and provides training in human rights. His work in the organization focused on training and capacity building as well as outreach to activists in central Vietnam. Truc has been an advocate for social justice, speaking out against government corruption and supporting fishermen seeking environmental justice following the Formosa environmental disaster. On 4 August 2017, 60 policemen surrounded Nguyen Trung Truc’s home and took him into custody. His laptop, smart phone, books and identification papers were confiscated.

More information:

• https://www.fidh.org/en/region/asia/vietnam/imprisonment-of-bloggers-and-women-activists-marks-escalation-of

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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).

Activists