At around 1 a.m. on September 21 (Vietnam time), the family of prisoner Tran Huynh Duy Thuc was present at Tan Son Nhat airport to wait for him after receiving notice from the government that he would be released early. Tran Huynh Duy Tan, Thuc’s younger brother, told VOA that the family received a message from local police on the afternoon of September 20, informing them of preparations to pick up Thuc. At that time, the family was waiting in the airport’s arrivals area.
The announcement of Mr. Thuc’s release was made just before General Secretary and President To Lam departed for the United States to attend the Future Summit and the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. This timing attracted much attention because Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc is a famous activist who was arrested in May 2009 and sentenced to 16 years in prison and 5 years of probation on charges of “activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s government.” According to the verdict, he is expected to serve his sentence until May 2025 if he is not released early.
Mr. Thuc’s family was very happy with this news. Mr. Tan said: “This is great news. Even if we were released just one day or one hour earlier, the family is extremely happy. Mr. Thuc should have been released earlier.” On September 20, Mr. Thuc’s family’s Facebook page also updated that he was on his way from Nghe An prison to Saigon, and expressed gratitude to the community for supporting the family to overcome this difficult period with pride and without regret.
For many years, human rights organizations and Western governments have repeatedly called on Vietnam to release Mr. Thuc and other human rights activists, arguing that they are only peacefully working for freedom and democracy. In particular, the Tom Lantos Committee of the US House of Representatives has repeatedly and strongly advocated for Mr. Thuc’s release through the Defending Freedoms Project (DFP), a program to protect prisoners of conscience around the world, calling on members of the US Congress to speak out and demand accountability for human rights violations.
Since 2019, US Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, a member of the Tom Lantos Committee, has sponsored Mr. Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, continuously calling on Vietnam to release him. In the case of “Activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s government”, accomplices such as Le Thang Long, Le Cong Dinh and Nguyen Tien Trung have long been released, of which Nguyen Tien Trung is currently seeking political asylum in Germany.