Arrest of anti-state subjects

On the afternoon of December 17, the Investigation Security Agency, Can Tho City Police initiated a case, prosecuted the accused, and temporarily detained Truong Chau Huu Danh, born in 1982, residing at 85 Khuong Minh Ngoc Street, An Vinh Ngai Commune, Tan An City (Long An), to investigate the act of"Taking advantage of democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals.", as prescribed in Article 331 of the 2015 Penal Code.

Searching the suspect’s residence, the authorities seized many relevant documents to serve the investigation. Truong Chau Huu Danh used to be a reporter for several newspapers and a Facebooker on social networks. Recently, this suspect commented and wrote many articles on his Facebook about many issues to oppose the Party and the State.

It is known that before that, Truong Chau Huu Danh was a reporter for several newspapers. Truong Chau Huu Danh became famous on social networks when he protested against BOT stations such as: BOT Cai Lay, BOT T2...

Danh’s images and clips appearing at BOTs were shared across social networks. The Facebook page and fanpage of the same name “Truong Chau Huu Danh” attracted thousands of followers and comments.

Authorities work with Truong Chau Huu Danh (in black) at his home in Long An. Photo: Nhan Dan Newspaper

In September 2018, social media was abuzz with information that Danh reported to the police that a group of tattooed, bald, and fierce-looking men (7-8) came to his house to pressure him and force him to remove the published articles.

At that time, Mr. Danh reported that while he was away, with only his elderly parents at home, a group of strangers entered the house, introducing themselves as "gangsters" from Saigon and the North.

The group of people had been ambushing in front of his house for many days, wanting to meet Huu Danh to ask him to remove the "offensive" articles that had a negative impact on them.

Last August, Truong Chau Huu Danh continuously posted on his personal Facebook about the case of Nguyen Hoang Trung Kien (30 years old, residing in Thoi Lai town, Thoi Lai district, Can Tho city) who committed suicide by drinking pesticide because he was sentenced to 9 months in prison.

Kien was sentenced to nine months in prison by the People's Court of Can Tho City for "intentionally damaging property" for using an excavator to collapse a warehouse made of prefabricated steel belonging to Hung Thinh Phat Company. Before being taken away to serve his sentence, Kien committed suicide by drinking pesticide on the evening of August 13.

At that time, Danh went directly to Can Tho, visited defendant Kien in the hospital and recorded a clip to post on social networks.

Huu Danh wrote about this incident as follows: “In Can Tho, an approved cadre in hamlet A dared to rush into hamlet B to fight for land with the people, and was protected by the court. The victim had his land robbed, was thrown into prison, and had to commit suicide. Yet, after less than 48 hours in the emergency room, a group of cadres came to his bedside to carry out his sentence…”

In addition, on Huu Danh's personal Facebook page, there are also posts that are said to have anti-state content.

On October 12, Truong Chau Huu Danh attended the opening ceremony of the branch of Golden Fashion Magazine - TTV Electronic Magazine in Can Tho, but this magazine branch has not been licensed by the City Department of Information and Communications.