On June 1, Truong Huy San, widely known under the name Huy Duc, failed to attend a scheduled keynote speech at a seminar, inspiring concern from colleagues and supporters. On June 7, the Ministry of Public Security confirmed that Duc, as well as lawyer Tran Dinh Trien, had been arrested under Article 331 of the Vietnamese Penal Code, which relates to the alleged abuse of ‘democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state’. Duc could be sentenced to up to seven years if found guilty.
Days before his disappearance, San had posted commentary of newly ascendent president To Lam and Nguyen Phu Trong, the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party, questioning the role of the police and public security forces in Vietnamese politics and other political developments, and pointing to Lam’s role as Minister of Public Security.The journalists’ Facebook page was made inaccessible by June 3.
Speaking with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)’s Vietnamese language service, an unnamed friend of San claimed that police had searched the journalist’s residences in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and that his family were not able to contact him.
In April 2022, Ho Chi Minh City journalist Nguyen Hoai Nam was sentenced to over three years in prison under Article 331 for critical social media posts connected to an anti-corruption investigation, while five journalists working at independent news outlet Bao Sach were convicted under the asame provisions in 2021.
San, a veteran journalist for several publications, is a celebrated author and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University from 2012 to 2013. The arrest has inspired condemnation from various human rights and media rights advocacy groups.
The IFJ said:“The IFJ condemns the arrest of journalist and author Truong Huy San, and calls on authorities to withdraw all charges and ensure his immediate release. The media must be free to operate without fear of arrests and legal persecution.”