Đinh Thị Thu Thủy

In this Vietnamese name, the surname is Đinh. In accordance with Vietnamese custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Thủy.
Đinh Thị Thu Thủy
Born (1982-09-05) 5 September 1982
Ngã Bảy, Hậu Giang province, Vietnam
OccupationHuman rights activist
Known forParticipation in the 2018 Vietnam protests
Criminal chargesPropagandising against the state
Criminal penaltyGuilty
Criminal statusSeven years imprisonment

Đinh Thị Thu Thủy (born 5 September 1982) is a Vietnamese human rights activist and political prisoner. In 2021, she was sentenced to seven years in prison after taking part in the 2018 Vietnam protests.

Personal life

Thủy lived in Ngã Bảy, Hậu Giang province, Vietnam with her daughter. She worked as an aquacultural engineer.[1]

Activism

Thủy became known as an activist on social media, particularly Facebook, where she wrote posts in support of political prisoners, freedom of expression, and environmental rights, and criticised the implications of the Vietnamese government's investment in overseas projects.[2][3]

In June 2018, Thủy participated in national protests against two laws drafted by the Vietnamese government, the Special Zone Act (which promoted opening three special economic zones across Vietnam, which critics believed would lead to increasing Chinese intervention and influence in the country), and the Cybersecurity Law (which would give the government the power to control online information and police online activity).[2][3][4][5] Thủy took part in a protest outside the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, during which she and other protesters were temporarily detained, beaten and fined before being released. Following the protest, Thủy was placed under state surveillance.[1]

Arrest and detention

On 18 April 2020, Thủy was arrested at her home in Lái Hiếu ward, Ngã Bảy, and detained at an unknown location on charges of "making, storing, disseminating, or propagandising information, materials and products that aim to oppose the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam".[1][2][3][5][6] Vietnamese authorities reported finding several masks in Thủy's home decorated with the "No-U" slogan, in reference to territorial disputes over the South China Sea.[1]

In August 2020, Thủy's pre-trial detention was extended by an additional four months, with her location not disclosed until November, when she was able to contact her family for the first time since her arrest.[3][7]

Thủy met with lawyers for the first time in December 2020, who reported her mental health as being "poor".[8]

Trial and sentencing

Thủy's trial took place on 20 January 2021 at the People's Court of Hậu Giang. She faced charges under article 117 of the penal code, which forbade "conducting propaganda against the state". Evidence used against her included "hundreds" of posts on Facebook which prosecutors stated "distorted and smeared the honour" of Vietnam's leaders, the Communist Party of Vietnam, and the country itself, in addition to "provoking oppositional thoughts" and spreading "false news" about the COVID-19 pandemic. It was alleged that Thủy operated multiple Facebook accounts.[1][2][3][5][6] Thủy stated that she had written the posts due to her "love of her homeland" and her desire to improve Vietnam.[5]

The trial concluded after four hours, following which Thủy was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison.[2][3][9][10] She was transported to An Phước detention centre in Bình Dương province to serve her sentence.[1]

In February 2021, Thủy was admitted to Hau Giang Provincial Hospital with vestibular disorder and heart valve regurgitation, in addition to calcium deficiency and insomnia attributed to poor prison conditions.[1]

Response

The Ireland-based human rights organisation Front Line Defenders issued an urgent appeal following Thủy's sentencing, expressing concern about the lack of freedom of speech in Vietnam.[3][11] The United States-based Human Rights Watch called on Vietnamese authorities to stop using the law to prosecute and intimidate human rights activists in the country.[5]

On 1 November 2021, the UN Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary Detention sent the government of Vietnam its report on human rights activists including Thủy as well as Chung Hoàng Chương, Nguyễn Văn Nghiêm, Lê Văn Dũng, Đỗ Nam Trung and Đinh Văn Hải, requesting a formal response.[12] The government requested a two-month extension to reply.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Dinh Thi Thu Thuy". Project 88. 13 June 2024. Archived from the original on 25 September 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Free Vietnam's Political Prisoners!". Human Rights Watch. 5 January 2026. Archived from the original on 5 January 2026. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Woman human rights defender Đinh Thị Thu Thủy charged and sentenced". Front Line Defenders. 20 January 2021. Archived from the original on 17 March 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  4. ^ "Vietnam's June 2018 Protests: 127 Jailed or At Risk A Year Later". Project 88. 6 June 2019. Archived from the original on 19 June 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  5. ^ a b c d e Mỹ Hằng (20 January 2021). "Nhà hoạt động Thu Thủy bị tuyên án 7 năm tù". BBC News Tiếng Việt (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  6. ^ a b Lê Dân; Huy Phách (18 April 2020). "Bắt nghi phạm dùng mạng xã hội chống phá Nhà nước". Tuổi Trẻ (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 13 January 2026. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  7. ^ Nhan Quyen (19 August 2020). "Hau Giang Police Extend Investigation Period against Local Activist Dinh Thi Thu Thuy". Defend The Defenders - Người Bảo Vệ Nhân Quyền. Retrieved 7 March 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Nhan Quyen (4 December 2020). "Activist Dinh Thi Thu Thuy Permitted to Meet Her Lawyers For First Time Nearly Eight Months after Being Arrested, Trial Expected Soon". Defend The Defenders - Người Bảo Vệ Nhân Quyền. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  9. ^ Gossman, Patricia (6 March 2026). "Vietnam's Courageous Women Behind Bars". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 7 March 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Nhan Quyen (20 January 2021). "Female Activist Dinh Thi Thu Thuy Convicted of "Conducting Anti-state Propaganda," Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison". Defend The Defenders - Người Bảo Vệ Nhân Quyền. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  11. ^ "Vietnam: Woman human rights defender Đinh Thị Thu Thủy charged and sentenced" (PDF). Front Line Defenders. 20 January 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 March 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  12. ^ "Mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders". United Nations. 1 November 2021. Archived from the original on 23 May 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  13. ^ "No. 206/VNM.21". Permanent Mission of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to the United Nations Office, World Trade Organization and Other International Organisations in Geneva. 21 December 2021. Archived from the original on 23 May 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
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