A Vietnamese activist known for filming protests against a polluting steel plant has been charged with “abusing democratic freedoms,” RFA’s Vietnamese Service has learned.
Nguyen Van Hoa, 22, was arrested by police on Jan. 11 as Vietnamese authorities picked up several activists in advance of the Tet holiday, but police notified his family of the charges only on Friday, according to a police notice.
Hoa is accused of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens” under Article 258 of Vietnam’s penal code, the police notice said.
Article 258 is one of several statues that Hanoi uses to prosecute dissidents. If convicted, Hoa faces up to seven years in prison.
While Hoa has been held for weeks in Ha Tinh province, his family has been prevented from seeing him, a family member told RFA.
“We went there to visit him, but the police did not let us,” the relative told RFA. “Today we received their notice and we are still waiting for more information from them.”
Hoa had done nothing wrong, the relative said.
“Hoa only does charity work, asking for justice and truth,” she said. “He only wrote about the truth; he did not do anything wrong.”
Others also arrested
Hoa, who blogged and produced videos for RFA, is among a group of activists arrested before the Tet new year celebration including Tran Thi Nga, who was accused of propagandizing against the administration under Article 88 of the penal code.
Nga is well known for defending the rights of Vietnamese migrant workers and victims of government land grabs.
The seizure of land for development—often without due process or fair compensation for displaced residents— is a major cause of protests in Vietnam and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China and Cambodia.
Article 88 is considered a “national security offense” and carries a sentence of between three and 20 years of imprisonment. It also allows the incommunicado detention of Tran Thi Nga during the whole period of the investigation.
In June, the Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics Group acknowledged it was responsible for the release of toxic chemicals from its massive steel plant located at the deep-water port in Ha Tinh Province.
The April spill killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen and tourism industry workers jobless in four central provinces.
Vietnam's government said in a report to the National Assembly in July that the disaster had harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen.
The company pledged $500 million to clean iup and compensate people affected by the spill, but the government has faced protests over the amount of the settlement and the slow pace of payouts.
Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.