Vietnam Sends a Journalist to Prison for Posting About Politics on Facebook

Vietnam sentenced Huynh Ngoc Tuan to prison once before, for 10 years, for critical writings. His daughter, Huynh Thuc Vy, was later jailed for a blog post that included defacing a Vietnamese flag. In Vietnam, this is what covering politics looks like for families who do it and what the government's response to it looks like too. And sadly but unsurprisingly, Tuan, who resumed journalism after getting out, is now already sentenced to go back to prison.

This time, what got him in trouble was posting commentary on Vietnamese politics, human rights, and international affairs on Facebook, under his own name, in public. On April 2, the People's Court of Dak Lak Province ruled that 11 of his live videos and 21 Facebook posts were defamatory, spread false information, and undermined trust in the ruling Communist Party, convicting him under Article 117 of the penal code, which bars "propagandizing against the state," according to Vy, who reported the details to CPJ.

A Closed Courtroom for an Open Facebook Page

Tuan was arrested on October 7, 2025, at his home in Buon Ho town, in central Dak Lak province, and held incommunicado without access to lawyers or outside visitors from that moment until the day the verdict was delivered. His family was not informed the trial was taking place. It lasted one day and was held behind closed doors. The sentence is eight years and six months plus five years of probation, and it is not yet clear whether Tuan intends to appeal.

Shawn Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative, stated that Vietnamese authorities had "weaponized vague propaganda laws to silence a reporter whose only offense is speaking truth to power" and called for his immediate and unconditional release. Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security did not reply to CPJ's request for comment.

The Family That Knows Exactly How This Works

Tuan’s family has faced home raids, surveillance, confiscated computers and documents, and travel restrictions over an extended period, harassment that predates this arrest, and continued through it. His daughter Thuc Vy, who served two years and nine months in prison herself and was beaten by prison guards while incarcerated, is the primary source for CPJ's reporting on his case.

Meanwhile, Tuan has severe diabetes and requires daily insulin shots and is currently being held at the Dak Lak Provincial Police Detention Center. Naturally, the state managing his detention is the same state responsible for his insulin, so you can imagine how “well” they’re taking care of him.

Governments that treat political speech as a criminal matter and journalists charged with reporting on politics as threats to public order tend not to be particularly concerned about the health of people they've decided are enemies of the state. Being humane is the least of their concerns.

The Country That Jails 17 Journalists at a Time

Vietnam currently has 17 journalists behind bars, according to CPJ's imprisoned journalists data, making it one of the worst jailers of journalists in the world. And Tuan's case fits precisely within that pattern: Article 117 functions as the instrument, the charge of "anti-state propaganda" functions as the label, and the result is a journalist in a detention center for covering subjects the government finds inconvenient. It is the same approach used against journalists jailed for covering public institutions elsewhere, adapted for Vietnam's specific legal architecture.

CPJ has asked for Tuan's release. Vietnam has not responded. At 17 journalists currently imprisoned, the country has made its position on independent political speech entirely clear, and no one with diplomatic or trade relationships with Hanoi should be under any illusion about what they are choosing to overlook. Calling for his release while continuing to treat Vietnam as a normal trading partner is a plain cold calculation, and it should be called that.