(NEW YORK)—The unjust imprisonment of three writers and journalists in Vietnam five years ago today is emblematic of the Vietnamese government’s ongoing campaign to censor and silence independent voices, PEN America said today.
Le Huu Minh Tuan, Pham Chi Dung, and Nguyen Tuong Thuy were sentenced to lengthy prison terms in 2021 for their work as writers and journalists on the charge of “anti-state propaganda” in a half-day hearing that was little more than a show trial. In PEN America’s most recent Freedom to Write Index, Vietnam was the third leading jailer of writers globally.
“These writers and journalists have already lost five years of their lives to the Vietnamese government’s outrageous persecution of their writing, which provided domestic and international readers with independent analysis of politics, governance, and human rights in the country,” said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director of Writers at Risk at PEN America. “Vietnam’s continued imprisonment of Tuan, Dung, and Thuy is clearly an attempt to stop them from writing about topics the government wants to censor. The Vietnamese government must immediately release them and all writers in jail and end these grave violations of free expression rights.”
Tuan’s family reports that he has suffered from serious medical conditions in detention, exposing Vietnamese authorities’ refusal to provide adequate healthcare and to respect their obligations under international human rights law. His health deteriorated to the point that he could no longer eat solid foods and struggled to walk. He has been denied proper medical care, turning an already harsh sentence into brutal punishment.
“We demand that Tuan and all people wrongly jailed for their expression get the medical care they need, which Vietnamese authorities are legally obligated to provide,” said Karlekar. “Governments, media organizations, and international institutions should request prison visits and continue to press for accountability from authorities.”
In January 2021, the three writers and journalists were sentenced to lengthy prison terms under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code for “anti-state propaganda”: Pham Chi Dung, 15 years in prison; Le Huu Minh Tuan, 11 years in prison; and Nguyen Tuong Thuy, 11 years in prison. Vietnamese authorities arrested Dung in November 2019, then arrested Thuy and Tuan in May and June of 2020, respectively.
Tuan, Dung, and Thuy are members of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN). Prior to their arrests, Dung, who helped create the IJAVN, had also been a blogger and reporter for Voice of America (VOA) and Thuy had blogged for Radio Free Asia (RFA)—two independent media outlets funded by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which was gutted by the Trump administration through an executive order in March 2025.
Other writers remain imprisoned in Vietnam, including author, journalist, and 2024 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Awardee Pham Doan Trang.
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.