Lê Đình Lượng is a Vietnamese blogger, activist and prominent member of the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Church. A veteran of the 1983 during Sino-Vietnamese conflicts, 1979–1991, he was arrested in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

on 24 July 2017 and charged for "activities attempting to overthrow the state" under Article 79 of 1999 Penal Code. Lượng was subsequently sentenced to 20 years prison and 5 years house arrest in a one-day trial in August 2018.

Activism

Lượng is a citizen journalist for Good News for the Poor and Catholic Youth, reporting on the movement for

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

following the 2016 Vietnam marine life disaster. He campaigned for the rights of farmers to refuse to pay excessive educational and agricultural output fees imposed by local authorities. Lượng also worked on supporting detained human rights defenders and their families, advocating for the release of political prisoners and the end to intimidation and harassment of activists and their families. He was physically attacked by policemen in

Lâm Đồng Province Lâm is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Lin in Mandarin and Im in Korean. Lam is the anglicized variation of the surname Lâm. Lam is also a commonly held surname of Cantonese speakers of Chinese descent. Large populations ...

following a celebration to mark the release of human rights activist and journalist Tran Minh Nhat. Lượng was arrested while on his way home after visiting the wife of

Nguyễn Văn Oai Nguyễn Văn Oai (born 1981 in Nghệ An Province) is a social rights activists from Quynh Luu district, Nghe An province. He is a Protestant, and studied citizen journalism under Vietnam Redemptorist News. Oai was arrested on August 2, 2011, in ...

, a human rights defender who has been imprisoned since January 2017. According to his wife, he has not been permitted family visitations despite multiple requests.

2018 Conviction

Le Dinh Lượng was sentenced to 20 years prison and 5 years house arrest on 16 August 2018 in a trial which lasted five hours. He was only able to meet with his lawyer in late July 2018, after being held incommunicado for a year. The international community was quick to react following the verdict. Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

said it was "absolutely outrageous" and that "speaking out and peacefully demonstrating should not be a crime". The

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

expressed their concerns calling the charges "vague" and that the trend of lengthy prison sentences handed down on peaceful activists was "troubling". The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Delegation said Lượng's conviction was in "direct breach of (the Vietnamese government's) international obligations" and conventions including the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Dinh Luong 1965 births Living people Vietnamese journalists Political repression in Vietnam Vietnamese prisoners and detainees Vietnamese democracy activists Vietnamese human rights activists

Activism

2018 Conviction

See also

References