2020 Vietnam: Pham Doan Trang
We urge Vietnamese authorities to immediately drop all charges against author, journalist and activist Pham Doan Trang.
November 10th 2020
President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam
PEN International and The Norwegian Writers in Prison Committee hereby urge Vietnamese authorities to immediately drop all charges against author, journalist and activist Pham Doan Trang.
Trang’s apartment was raided and Trang was arrested on October 6th 2020, detained without access to her family or legal representation. The arrest took place just hours after the 2020 U.S.-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue concluded.
Pham Doan Trang has fought to promote human rights and democracy through her writing and social media. After Trang’s arrest in October she was charged under Art. 177 of the Vietnamese Penal Code and accused of “making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam”. Trang, like many before her, has used her platforms and her voice to spread awareness about human rights issues in Vietnam. She is one of several activists who have been detained for this.
PEN International and the Norwegian Writers in Prison Committee strongly urge Vietnamese authorities to:
- immediately release Pham Doan Trang from detainment
- drop all charges made against her under the Vietnamese Penal Code
- provide Trang with immediate and unimpeded access to her family and legal representative; and
- end crackdown on bloggers, writers and free speech activists in Vietnam
Yours sincerely,
Mari Moen Holsve
Member of Writers in Prison Committee
PEN Norway
