2015 prison census - Vietnam: Nguyen Dinh Ngoc (Nguyen Ngoc Gia)
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 14 December 2015 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, 2015 prison census - Vietnam: Nguyen Dinh Ngoc (Nguyen Ngoc Gia), 14 December 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56701f499.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
| Nguyen Dinh Ngoc (Nguyen Ngoc Gia), Freelance | |
|---|---|
| Medium: | Internet |
| Charge: | Anti-State |
| Imprisoned: | Dec 27, 2014 |
Ngoc was arrested after police searched his home in southern Ho Chi Minh City. In an announcement on the city's official website, which did not overtly mention his blog posts, authorities said they would investigate Ngoc's "law-violating" activities, according to The Associated Press. He is a frequent contributor to the independent blog sites Lam Bao Dan (People's Newspaper) and Dan Luan (People's Opinion).
Weeks before his arrest, Ngoc highlighted in blog posts and comments to Radio Free Asia the cases of recently detained fellow bloggers Nguyen Quang Lap and Hong Le Tho on anti-state charges of "abusing democratic freedoms." (Lap and Tho were released but were still under investigation in late 2015, according to reports.) Ngoc had also posted about Ta Phong Tan, a blogger who at the time was serving a 10-year sentence for "disseminating anti-state propaganda" and who had staged a hunger strike to protest her mistreatment in prison.
Ngoc told Radio Free Asia in a mid-December interview: "As we reach the end of 2014, many prisoners of conscience are suffering from harassment and torture ... and despite the fact that the government has ratified the international convention against torture, there has been no improvement." Press reports said Ngoc also complained in a blog post before his arrest that his Gmail and Facebook accounts had been hacked.
Ngoc had not been officially charged in late 2015. He was being held at Ho Chi Minh City's Phan Dang Luu Detention Center, according to the independent human rights website Vietnam Right Now. Under Vietnamese law, administrative detention without trial is allowed for reasons of national security, according to Human Rights Watch.
It was not clear if Ngoc was suffering from any ailments while in detention. His family was reluctant to discuss his case and status, fearing reprisals, Vietnam Right Now told CPJ.
