Age: 36 years old
Activity: Falun Gong practitioner
Date of arrest: June 11, 2010
Sentence: Sentenced to 2 years imprisonment on November 10, 2011
Charge: Illegally using information in computer networks (Article 226)
Current location: Unknown
From a farm outside of Hanoi, Le Van Thanh (and his brother-in-law Vu Duc Trung) operated a short-wave radio broadcast called Sound of Hope revealing human rights abuses in China. He was arrested even though Falun Gong is not explicitly banned in Vietnam.
Half a century after the war and following three decades of integration, Vietnam has seen economic growth but our overall development remains behind the advanced countries in the region. Without sustainable and comprehensive development, Vietnam is at risk of falling further behind.
Vital to Vietnam’s development, the Internet has the power to transform Vietnamese society; in many ways it already has. In the absence of an independent media, citizens have turned to the Internet to follow the news and debate national issues.
My name is Nguyễn Văn Tráng, a human rights defenderwanted by the Vietnamese government. As a democracy activist in Vietnam, I spent five years living in constant fear of being hunted down. I thought that fear would subside once I fled the country. I believed I would be safe—or at least safer. But I was wrong.
Y Krec has exhibited personal bravery in the face of horrific persecution. Not just against himself but against his community. He has been jailed multiple times simply for practicing his faith outside of government control.
