Notable events:

• Journalist Truong Huy San, also known as Huy Duc, and Lawyer Tran Dinh Tuyen Charged with ‘Abusing Democratic Freedoms’
• Thai Binh Provincial Police Actively Search for Political Prisoner Dang Thi Hue
• National Assembly Approves Lt. Gen. Luong Tam Quang as the New Public Security Minister
• California Lawmaker Calls for the USCIRF to Pressure Vietnam over the Disappearance of Thich Minh Tue

Journalist Truong Huy San, also known as Huy Duc, and Lawyer Tran Dinh Trien Charged with ‘Abusing Democratic Freedoms’

The Security Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security on June 7 confirmed the arrest and criminal prosecutions of journalist Truong Huy San, also known as Huy Duc, or blogger Osin, and lawyer Tran Dinh Trien. Trien runs a law firm called Vì Dân (For the People) in Hanoi and is a member of the Hanoi Bar Association. In 2012, Huy Duc was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

According to the investigation agency, Huy Duc and Trien were charged with Article 331 of the Penal Code, which prohibits the “abusing of democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state and the legitimate rights and interests of others.” The Ministry of Public Security announced that the prosecutions of journalist Huy Duc and lawyer Tran Dinh Trien were part of an investigation into the alleged violation of Article 331 that occurred in Hanoi and the provinces.