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Le Trong Hung, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for “propaganda against the state” in Vietnam’s Nghe An province, began a 50-day hunger strike Wednesday.
The teacher and independent journalist wants the chance to appeal his conviction and is protesting against the promotion of former police chief To Lam, first to president, and then to general secretary of the Communist Party, Vietnam’s top job.
But Hung’s wife told Radio Free Asia she is concerned that only drinking water will have serious implications for his health.
Hung, 45, was arrested on March 27, 2021 after announcing plans to stand as a candidate for the National Assembly, or parliament, that year.
Later that year, he was sentenced to five years in prison and five years of probation.
During a family visit on July 16, Hung started to tell his wife Do Le Na about his planned hunger strike, saying it was “related to the National Assembly and To Lam … protesting him sitting in the wrong place,” before prison guards stopped him.
To Lam was elected minister of public security in 2016. He became state president in May this year and general secretary on Aug. 3, following the death of Nguyen Phu Trong.
As police chief, he was widely criticized for talking about the need to stamp out corruption and then dining out on a US$1,900 gold-encrusted steak at a celebrity chef's restaurant during an official trip to London. One Vietnamese activist, who mocked Lam's lavish dinner on YouTube, was jailed for five-and-a-half years.
Prison officers warned Hung not to mention the hunger strike when he made his monthly phone call home on Aug 16. But when they weren’t paying attention, he spoke to his wife about it.
“My husband plans to go on a hunger strike, drinking only water for 50 days, but I am trying to convince him to reduce it to 30 days because October 4th this year is our 15th wedding anniversary,” Na told RFA Vietnamese on Wednesday. “However, Hung has not agreed yet.”
She said Hung could be punished by losing privileges such as family visits and the phone calls home.
However, Na said a hunger strike was "almost the only way at this time for him to express his determination to follow the purpose and path he has chosen."
RFA Vietnamese tried to phone Nghe An’s Prison No.6 to ask about Hung’s case but the number wouldn't connect.
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Last year, Hung went on a 30-day hunger strike, also starting on Sept. 4. He said he wanted to persuade authorities to give him the chance to appeal his conviction again because he was denied a lawyer at his initial appeal and his family wasn’t told when it was taking place.
He also asked prison officers to respect prisoners' rights and requested a visit from a National Assembly representative, saying he wanted to propose the establishment of a constitutional court in Vietnam. None of his requests was met.
Hung is a former teacher at Xa Dan school for the deaf in Hanoi.
He is well-known in Vietnam after live streaming news reports on Facebook and the CHTV pro-democracy YouTube channel, criticizing government policies and denouncing corruption.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.