Vietnam releases 2 political prisoners ahead of leader To Lam’s US trip

Read RFA’s coverage of this topic in Vietnamese

Vietnam has released two prominent political prisoners, a day before its top leader To Lam headed to the United States to speak before the United Nations General Assembly.

Climate campaigner Hoang Thi Minh Hong, was sentenced to three years in prison last September for tax evasion.

She was freed on Friday from a prison in Gia Lai province, her husband told the AFP news agency.

“She took a bus home, it took her 12 hours to reach Ho Chi Minh City and I picked her up from the bus station at 5:00 am this morning,” Hoang Vinh Nam told the news agency.

“It’s just amazing. She’s good, she’s healthy and she’s the same person she was when she went in.”

Hong, 52, founded the non-profit CHANGE VN, which campaigned to raise environmental awareness.

She shut it down in October last year after the  arrest of several environmental activists.

Prosecutors accused her of dodging US$274,000 in taxes, which she was ordered to pay back, along with a fine of $4,000.

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Authorities also released Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, eight months before the end of his16-year sentence, his brother Tran Huynh Duy Tan told Radio Free Asia.

“There is nothing more joyful than this, waiting every day, every minute, every second,” Tan said. “There is nothing more to say, this moment has been very much awaited.”

Tan added that his whole family had gathered at Thuc’s house to welcome him home.

Thuc, 57, is the co-founder of human rights group Vietnam Path. He was arrested in 2009 and sentenced the following year for "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's government," in connection with his online articles criticizing Vietnam’s one-party state.

“I was very surprised and also very happy when Thuc was released a few months early, before the end of the 16-year term,” said former political prisoner Nguyen Tien Trung, who fled to Germany to avoid possible re-arrest.

“However, for me, Mr Thuc's sentence is completely unjust and the 16-year sentence is incorrect, completely wrong by the Vietnamese government.”

Trung told RFA Vietnamese that Thuc’s release comes at a time when the government is clamping down hard on the democracy movement.

“Most of the prominent democracy activists had to leave or were arrested,” Trung said. “This means that Thuc will face many difficulties when he gets home and there may be very few people left by his side to continue the fight.”

There was no announcement from the government as to why the two were released but it came one day before Communist Party General Secretary To Lam boarded a flight from Hanoi to New York where he is due to speak at a UN Summit of the Future and the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Vietnamese media reported.

In January 2023, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bipartisan group of U.S. Congress members, called on Vietnam to release Thuc “immediately and without condition.”

And in September last year, the U.S. State Department reacted to news of Hong’s sentencing by calling for the release of the environmental activist and other political prisoners.

“NGO leaders like Hoang Thi Minh Hong play a vital role in tackling global challenges, proposing sustainable solutions in the global fight against the climate crisis, and combating wildlife and timber trafficking,” the State Department said.

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.