Vietnam: Ex-Political Prisoner Rearrested

Human Rights Watch

The Vietnamese authorities arrested a former political prisoner, Huynh Ngoc Tuan, on October 7, 2025, for his comments on social media, Human Rights Watch said today.

Police in Dak Lak province charged him with "conducting propaganda against the state" under article 117 of the penal code. They should immediately release him. Vietnamese law permits the authorities to deny Huynh Ngoc Tuan legal counsel and family visits while the investigation in ongoing, which may take months or even years. If convicted, he faces up to 12 years in prison.

"The Vietnamese authorities have persecuted Huynh Ngoc Tuan for decades because he exposes social injustice in Vietnam," said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The government simply cannot tolerate any criticism, so they lock him up."

Huynh Ngoc Tuan's arrest is among a new wave of arrests that raises serious concern about the government's intensifying crackdown on freedom of expression prior to the 14th Communist Party Congress expected in January 2026. The party congress, held every five years since 1986, brings together officials who select the politburo, the party's leadership, the leader of the national assembly, and the country's president and prime minister. A staged national election, that is neither free nor fair, is scheduled for March.

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