Phạm Đoan Trang (born 1978 in Hanoi) is a Vietnamese author, blogger, journalist, publisher, and democracy activist.[2][3][4][5] She received the 2017 Homo Homini Award from People In Need, who called her "one of the leading figures of the contemporary Vietnamese dissent".[4][6]

Phạm Đoan Trang
Born (1978-05-27) May 27, 1978 (age 45)
Hanoi, Vietnam
EducationForeign Trade University (Graduated in 2001, International Economics)[1]
OccupationAuthor
AwardsHomo Homini Award (2017)
Websitephamdoantrang.com

Work and recognition

Trang is the co-founder of the blog Luật Khoa tạp chí (English: "journal of law").[2] In 2017, she published Chính trị bình dân (English: "politics for everyone"), her ninth book.[2][3][4] Her blog receives around 20,000 daily visitors.[4] Since then, she has sought refuge at an undisclosed location, where she also speaks to the media.[7]

She is also the co-founder of the publishing house Nhà xuất bản Tự Do (Liberal Publishing House)[5] which in 2020 was awarded the International Publishers Association's IPA Prix Voltaire.[8][9]

In 2018, Trang was awarded the Homo Homini Award by the Czech-based human rights organisation People In Need.[2][3][4] She was lauded for using "plain words to fight the lack of freedom, corruption and the despotism of the communist regime".[4]

In 2022, Trang received the International Women of Courage Award from the United States Department of State.[10]

Arrests

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Trang was detained under de facto house arrest in February 2018. Her treatment by the government has been condemned by RSF.[2][3]

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".[11] 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.[12] In late-2021, she was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment.[13] Amnesty International 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."[14]

References

  1. ^ "Full interview Doan Trang". The 88 Project (Interview) (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  2. ^ a b c d e Gerin, Roseanne (2018-02-26). "Vietnamese Activist Blogger Placed Under House Arrest in Hanoi". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  3. ^ a b c d "Well-known Vietnamese journalist hounded, facing imminent arrest". Reporters without borders. 2018-02-27. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Gruberová, Zuzana (2018-02-13). "The Homo Homini Prize for 2017 Will Be Awarded to a Persecuted Vietnamese Blogger". People in Need. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  5. ^ a b Anderson, Porter (7 October 2020). "Vietnamese Publishing House Co-Founder Arrested Ahead of Frankfurt Appearance". Publishing Perspectives. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Nhà báo Phạm Đoan Trang được trao giải nhân quyền Homo Homini". Voice of America (in Vietnamese). 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Blogger Phạm Đoan Trang ẩn trốn sau khi bị thẩm vấn". BBC News Tiếng Việt (in Vietnamese). 2018-03-02. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  8. ^ "Prix Voltaire 2020". International Publishers Association. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  9. ^ Anderson, Porter (2020-06-03). "Vietnam's Liberal Publishing House Wins IPA's 2020 Prix Voltaire". Publishing Perspectives. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  10. ^ "2022 International Women of Courage Award". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  11. ^ Thang, Quoc; Do, Ba; Du, Pham (2020-10-07). "Vietnamese woman arrested for anti-state propaganda". VN Express. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  12. ^ "Journalist Pham Doan Trang arrested on anti-state charges in Vietnam". Committee to Protect Journalists. 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  13. ^ "Vietnam jails dissident journalist for 9 years over 'anti-state' acts". NBC News. 15 December 2021.
  14. ^ "Viet Nam: Crackdown on dissent continues with 'egregious' nine-year sentence for Pham Doan Trang". Amnesty International. 14 December 2021.