Prisoner of conscience Truong Van Dung, serving a six-year prison sentence for “anti-state propaganda,” has been disciplined by authorities at Gia Trung Prison for the second time this year, his family told Radio Free Asia.
A prison notice sent to his family and dated June 21 said Dung “committed acts of insulting the honor and dignity of others.” The punishment was to be held in solitary confinement and shackled by one leg for seven days.
Rules prohibit prisoners from “forming associations, groups or factions of any kind.” Uncivilized attitude, speech, behavior and insulting the honor and dignity of others are also prohibited. Writing, drawing, hanging, or pasting pictures or photos without permission as well as spitting, throwing trash indiscriminately or committing acts that cause public unsanitary conditions in prison facilities are not also allowed.
Dung’s wife, Nghiem Thi Hop, said the prison did not specify who he offended and under what circumstances.
“I firmly believe he did not do anything wrong, it was just that prison cadres did wrong and then he protested,” she said.
Hop said she sent gifts to her husband this month but the parcel was returned on June 24 because the prison refused to deliver it.
According to the prison notice, Dung will not be allowed to have prison visits, receive gifts, receive or send mail, make phone calls, or buy goods at the prison canteen from June 20 to Aug. 20.
From Aug. 21 he will be allowed to have family visits every two months if his behavior improves. Normally prisoners are allowed monthly visits.
RFA Vietnamese tried to contact the officer in charge of the male political prisoner detention area at Gia Trung Prison to ask for information about the case, but he did not answer the phone.
This is the second time Dung has been disciplined this year. In January, he was held in a disciplinary cell for a month but not shackled after being accused of “insulting the honor and dignity of others” following an argument with a prison guard.
Dung, 66, took part in many street protests against human rights violations and repeatedly hung banners in crowded places in Hanoi. He also protested against China’s actions in South China Sea territory claimed by Vietnam.
Dung was arrested in May 2022 on charges of “propaganda against the State” under Article 117 of the criminal code. A year later, he was sentenced to six years in prison.
He was transferred from An Diem Prison in Quang Nam province to Gia Trung Prison in Gia Lai province last October.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.