Dang Xuan Dieu, Vietnam Redemptorist News
Medium:Internet
Charge:Anti-State
Imprisoned:July 30, 2011
Ho Duc Hoa, Vietnam Redemptorist News
Medium:Internet
Charge:Anti-State
Imprisoned:July 30, 2011

Dieu and Hoa, both religious activists and frequent contributors to the news website Vietnam Redemptorist News, were arrested at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam Redemptorist News, an online publication run by the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, reports on the plight of the country's persecuted Catholic minority, land disputes between the government and grassroots communities, and other social issues.

They were first detained on unspecified charges under Article 79 of the penal code, which outlines penalties for activities aimed at overthrowing the government. Both were also accused of being members of the exile-run Viet Tan party, an organization outlawed by the dominant Communist party.

In a two-day trial that concluded on January 9, 2013, a court in the northern city of Vinh convicted and sentenced each to 13 years in prison and five years' house arrest on charges of participating in "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration," "undermining of national unity," and disseminating "propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," news reports said.

An appellate court upheld Hoa's prison sentence on May 23, 2013. He was being held at Vinh city's Nghi Kim Detention Center in late 2014.

In 2013, Dieu submitted a petition to authorities calling for a new investigation and trial on the grounds that his conviction was based on fabricated information, according to a Radio Free Asia report. After his petition was rejected, he refused to wear prison clothes emblazoned with the word "criminal," according to his brother and a former fellow inmate quoted in an RFA report. Dieu was severely beaten and refused visitation rights in response, according to the same RFA report.

Dieu went on hunger strike several times in 2014 to protest abysmal prison conditions, including overcrowding and poor sanitation in his cell, according to a news report quoting one of his former prison mates, Truong Minh Tam. His brother, Dang Xuan Ha, told RFA that Dieu was frequently beaten and humiliated by prison authorities and other inmates. Dieu was being held at Thanh Hoa province's No. 5 prison in late 2014. He had been allowed only one family visit during his incarceration, according to the RFA report.

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