Vietnam arrests journalist known as Huy Duc

Vietnamese government authorities have arrested prominent journalist and political commentator Truong Huy San for “abusing democratic freedoms” through a series of posts he shared on Facebook that “undermine state interests and the rights and legitimate interests of organizations and individuals. The New York Times reported. San had more than 350,000 followers on the platform, according to the New York Times, before his account was deactivated on June 1.

San is known to many as “Huy Duc”. He was taken into custody last week, according to the Times. Vietnamese authorities confirmed San's arrest Friday evening. Vietnamese media reported that San's home and workplace were both searched.

The Communist Party has targeted journalists in Vietnam for years. Ben Swanton, director of Project 88 – which campaigns for freedom of expression in Vietnam – told The Times: “Huy Duc is Vietnam’s most influential journalist. His arrest constitutes an alarming attack on press freedom and is the latest in a campaign of repression against reformers.”

Lawyer Tran Dinh Trien was also arrested for the same alleged crime at the time of San's arrest.

Screenshots shared by Project 88 with The Times indicate that San wrote an article about the country's police titled “A COUNTRY CANNOT GROW ON FEAR.” On May 28, San published an article criticizing Vietnam Communist Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong.

In terms of press freedom, Vietnam is ranked 174th out of 180 countries by Reporters Without Borders, two places worse than China, ranked 172nd, and two places above the repressive Iranian regime, ranked 176th.

In 2022, Facebook user Dang Như Quynh – who had more than 300,000 followers on the platform – was arrested for posts that allegedly abused “democratic rights and freedoms to undermine the legal rights of the state, organizations and individuals under the Penal Code. ”, the same general distinction used to target San.

Vietnam's one-party system imposes strict regulations and restrictions on freedom of expression. Since 2016, the General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, has intensified sanctions against journalists in the country.

On Friday, Reporters Without Borders tweeted: “According to RSF sources, political commentator #HuyDuc, missing since June 1, is detained by police in #Hanoi after publishing several articles on the regime's political instability. We demand his immediate release!

San worked for several Vietnamese newspapers until his dismissal in 2009. Shortly after, he began posting articles about Vietnamese politics on Facebook. His 2012 book “The Winning Side” chronicles the country's political history.