Quỳnh-Vi Trần, a Vietnamese editor and journalist based in Taiwan, knew her work could one day be targeted by the Vietnamese authorities. Then, in the midst of the global pandemic, Quỳnh-Vi Trần, better known as Vi, heard the news: her colleague, the prominent publisher and writer Pham Doan Trang was arrested on trumped-up charges of anti-state propaganda.
Evidence used to prosecute Doan Trang included her reports into a marine disaster in 2016 and the country's human rights record. She had reported on a land dispute that led to the deaths of 3 policemen and published widely about politics in Vietnam, including a handbook for families of prisoners.
Pham Doan Trang was held incommunicado for a year before she finally came before the court. She faces 9 years in prison.
In the latest episode of ‘Silenced’, our podcast about journalists who risk it all to report the truth, Nicola Kelly speaks to Vi about the government’s stifling of the media in Vietnam, the difficulties of getting information out, and the rise of transnational repression – as authorities increasingly target Vietnamese activists and journalists based outside the country.
Vietnam now ranks at the bottom of all major global press indexes. Our Global Expression Report 2024 classifies Vietnam as a country experiencing a freedom expression ‘crisis’, ranking it 138 out of 161 countries. Freedom of expression in Vietnam is considered only slightly better than China and North Korea.
And yet, Vi and her fellow colleagues have not been deterred. Since, as Vi sees it, Doan Trang has ‘sacrificed their liberty’ for the truth, Vietnamese journalists have become more determined to bring the truth to the world and strive for a better future for their country.
