Birth date: August 12, 1956
Activity: Writer, former Communist Party member
Date of arrest: October 27, 2010
Sentence: Sentenced to 8 years imprisonment (later reduced to 5 years) followed by 5 years house arrest on January 26, 2011
Charge: Propaganda against the socialist state (Article 88)
Current location: Lang Son Detention Center, Lang Son province
A Communist Party member from 1980 to 2007, Vi Duc Hoi attended the elite Nguyen Ai Quoc Party School in Hanoi. He is the most senior Communist Party member tuned democracy activist. He has written extensively on the need for political pluralism and documented the failings of the current system. Hailing from the remote province of Lang Son in the north, Vi Duc Hoi belongs to the largest minority group in the country. He is a recipient of Human Rights Watch’s Hellman/Hammett award.