Birth date: November 24, 1977
Activity: Blogger
Date of arrest: September 18, 2009
Sentence: Sentenced to 4 years imprisonment followed by 3 years house arrest on January 29, 2010
Charge: Propaganda against the socialist state (Article 88)
Current location: Prison Camp K3, Ha Nam Province
In Spring 2008, Pham Thanh Nghien was briefly detained in Hanoi while peacefully protesting the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay. On June 17, 2008, she wrote an official request to organize a protest which was rejected by the Vietnamese government. Despite harassment by police, Pham Thanh Nghien decided to have a sit-in protest in her own house, which led to her current arrest. Human Rights Watch awarded her the Hellman/Hammett prize.