Pham Doan Trang (born 1978 in

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

) is a Vietnamese author, blogger, journalist, publisher, and democracy activist. She received the 2017

Homo Homini Award The Homo Homini Award (Latin: "A human to another human") is given annually by the Czech human rights organization People in Need to "an individual in recognition of a dedication to the promotion of human rights, democracy and non-violent solutions ...

from

People In Need People in Need (PIN) ( cz, Člověk v tísni) is a Czech nonprofit, non-governmental organisation based in Prague, Czech Republic. PIN implements humanitarian relief and long term development projects, educational programmes, and human rights pr ...

, who called her "one of the leading figures of the contemporary Vietnamese dissent".

Work and recognition

Trang is the co-founder of the blog Luat Khoa Tap Chi (Journal of Law). In 2017, she published ''Chính Trị Bình Dân'' (''Politics for Everyone''), her ninth book. Her blog receives around 20,000 daily visitors. Since then, she has sought refuge at an undisclosed location, where she also speaks to the media. She is also the co-founder of the publishing house Nhà xuất bản Tự Do (Liberal Publishing House) which in 2020 was awarded the

International Publishers Association The International Publishers Association (IPA) is an international publishing industry federation of national publisher associations representing book and journal publishing. It is a non-profit and non-governmental organization, founded in 1896 to ...

's IPA Prix Voltaire. In 2018, Trang was awarded the

by the Czech-based human rights organisation

. She was lauded for using "plain words to fight the lack of freedom, corruption and the despotism of the communist regime". In 2022, Trang received the

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

from the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

Arrests

According to

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

(RSF), Trang was detained under de facto house arrest in February 2018. Her treatment by the government has been condemned by RSF. On October 7, 2020, she was arrested by Hanoi police and the Ministry of Public Security Officers in Ho Chi Minh City for "making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam". She has been charged under Article 117 of the penal code for "propaganda against the State", and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail if convicted. In late-2021, she was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

called the conviction "outrageous," saying that her treatment by the Vietnamese government "encompassing harassment, surveillance, threats, torture and bogus prosecutions, is cruelly emblematic of the Vietnamese authorities’ repression of peaceful human rights activism across the country."

References

1978 births Living people People from Hanoi Vietnamese democracy activists Vietnamese dissidents Vietnamese writers Vietnamese bloggers Vietnamese women writers Vietnamese women activists Vietnamese women bloggers Recipients of the International Women of Courage Award {{Vietnam-writer-stub