Pro-democracy Activist Luu Van Vinh Threatened with Death in Custody

Pro-democracy activist Luu Van Vinh, who is currently under pre-trial detention in Ho Chi Minh City-based Chi Hoa detention facility

By Defend the Defenders, December 25, 2017

Mr. Luu Van Vinh, who is in pre-trial detention on allegation of subversion, said he has been threatened by an inmate in the Chi Hoa temporary detention facility in Ho Chi Minh City.

At a recent meeting with his wife, Mr. Vinh, who was arrested in June last year and charged with “Carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration” under Article 79 of the country’s 1999 Penal Code, said he is held together with the inmate who continuously threatens to beat him to death.

Mr. Vinh informed the prison guards about his situation and asked to be placed to another cell but they refused, his wife told Defend the Defenders.

Due to his worsening vision capacity, he asked his wife to provide him with a pair of glass, however, the prison authorities deny it, not allowing her to send glasses to him, she said.

Recently, police in HCM City said they completed the investigation of his case and handed the investigation results over to the city’s People’s Procuracy, advising it to prosecute him on allegation of subversion. Vinh and his friend Nguyen Van Duc Do face life imprisonment even death penalty if convicted, according to the current law.

At a recent meeting with their lawyers, both Vinh and Do claimed that they are innocent. While Do claimed that he has no political engagement, Vinh said he just exercised his right of freedom of expression enshrined in the country’s 2013 Constitution and had carried out no activities against the communist regime.

For more information about the case of the two activists, please go to our older news: /category/luu-van-vinh/