Profile: Can Thi Theu – The 88 Project

On June 24, authorities surrounded and stormed into Trinh Ba Phuong’s home and arrested him and later his mother, Can Thi Theu (at a different residence). Theu is a former political prisoner (watch our interview with her about her activism, here) who has twice been jailed for her land rights activism, and Phuong is also a well-known activist who is very active in issues of land rights in his own community as well as advocating for the Dong Tam residents in the aftermath of the deadly police raid there in January 2019. Phuong’s wife had given birth just a few days ago prior to his arrest.

Police also searched a third member of the family’s home- Trinh Ba Tu (Theu’s son and Phuong’s brother)- and arrested him. Tu is also engaged in land rights issues and commentary on the Dong Tam incident. All three members of the family have allegedly been charged under Article 117 but the government has only confirmed that Trinh Ba Tu is charged under Article 117. It is unclear where the three are being held.

July 2020:

On July 16, security police summoned Pham Xuan Truong, son-in-law of Can Thi Theu, to inquire about the phone number that his mother-in-law had been using. Truong’s wife, Trinh Thi Thao, said “They asked my husband who was using one of the phone numbers under his name. He told them that he bought that SIM for my mother to use. Then they asked if he knew about the Facebook accounts belonging to my mother and to my brother Trinh Ba Tu. They also warned us not to participate in activism, and told us my mother asked us to send her some medication.”

May 2021:

A court in Hoa Binh Province sentenced land rights activists Can Thi Theu and her son Trinh Ba Tu to eight years in prison each, with three years of probation to follow, for conducting “anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the 2015 Criminal Code. The trial lasted just a few hours. Two relatives were allowed into the courtroom, but Theu’s husband, Trinh Ba Khiem, was not.

Their lawyer, Manh Dang, reported that in front of the judges, his clients stated their name as “Victim of Communism,” maintained their innocence, and reiterated that they only spoke the truth. He said their level of defiance is something he’d never witnessed in a courtroom before.

After the trial, Theu’s daughter reported that her mother is being held in a small cell with common criminals, some of whom allegedly are HIV-positive. She was denied a request to be tested after trying to break up a fight between other prisoners, which caused her to bleed.

July 2021:

Can Thi Theu’s daughter, Trinh Thi Thao, reported that her mother was put in solitary confinement under harsh summer conditions in a Hanoi prison. Her request to send her mom an electric fan was denied by prison officials. Theu asked to see a lawyer, but her request was ignored.

Later in the month, Thao sent another letter of complaint to the Hoa Binh Prison authorities requesting that the illegal isolation confinement of her mother and brother be stopped. In her letter, she accused prison guards of abusive treatment during the hot summer months and reminded them that by law those in temporary detention are allowed one family visit and one call home a month.

September 2021:

The appeals hearing for Can Thi Theu and Trinh Ba Tu was scheduled for September 17, 2021. Tu’s sister, Trinh Thi Thao, said that investigators were told her brother if he admitted guilt that he could have his sentence reduced to six years. It is not clear if family members will be allowed into the alleged open trial.

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Update: On September 13, the family of Can Thi Theu and Trinh Ba Tu requested that their appeal trial, scheduled for September 17, be postponed due to COVID-19. The current lockdown requirements, they said, made it too difficult for the family and the lawyers to travel to attend the trial. They did not receive any response from the court. As a result, the family had to leave its house at 4am on the morning of September 17, according to daughter Trinh Thi Thao, and had to travel 100km to the courthouse. When they arrived, they were told verbally that the trial had been postponed. There was no official notice of any kind.

October 2021:

Trinh Thu Thao, Can Thi Theu’s daughter and the sister of Trinh Ba Tu, sent prison authorities yet another letter asking to be allowed to visit her mother and brother, whom the family has not seen since their arrests 16 months ago.

December 2021:

On Christmas Eve, the appeal trials for land rights activists Can Thi Theu and her son Trinh Ba Tu took place in Hanoi. There was no change to their sentences — eight years of prison and three years probation each. Family members who tried to attend the trial were taken by police to a medical clinic and kept there until after the “open trial” concluded. Notes from the lawyers provide a glimpse of how the proceedings went.