In February, police arrested three activists for distributing anti-government leaflets and organising strikes in Tra Vinh province. They were Doan Huy Chuaong, aged 25, arrested on 11 February, Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, aged 29, arrested on 24 February, and Do Thi Minh Hanh, aged 25, arrested on 23 February. They were also accused of sending photos of a strike to a Vietnamese workers’ support committee based in Poland. Witnesses reported that Do Thi Minh Hanh was slapped on the face by the police officers during her arrest. Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung was condemned on 27 October to nine years in prison by a court in Tra Vinh province and the two others were each sentenced to seven years for «disturbing law and order».
One of the activists, Doan Huy Chuong, is a founding member of the United Workers-Farmers Organization (UWFO). He had already spent 18 months in prison in 2007 and 2008 for «abusing democratic freedoms». His father, Doan Van Dien, had been arrested on the same charges in 2006 and is still in jail after being condemned to four-and-a-half years in prison in December 2007. The UWFO spokesperson, Tran Quoc Hien, has also been in prison since 2007, and is not due to be released until 2012.
The two other activists sentenced on 27 October, Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung and Do Thi Minh Hanh, are members of the Victims of Injustice movement, which assists impoverished workers and landless farmers.
These activists are among the thirty or so prisoners of conscience identified by Amnesty International at the end October in Vietnam. Along with a number of independent trade unionists, the list also includes supporters of banned political groups, bloggers, journalists, writers and businessmen.