2. Paulus Le Van Son is a 31 year old Vietnamese blogger
currently under house arrest for his beliefs. He is a
community activist and prominent writer for the Vietnam
redemptorist news and Bao khong le ( newspaper without
lanes). The issues he mostly deals with includes public
education and HIV. His personal blog mainly deals with
human rights and social justice. He is also apart of John Paul
II group for pro life. John Paul II was a pope from 1978 to
2005.
3. A few months before his arrest Paulus posted on his
personal blog about anti-china protest and territorial
disputes with China. He also posted about government
harassment of pro-democracy and catholic church activists,
police abuse and discriminating against those with HIV.
He was briefly detained in 2011 after attempting to report on
pro-democracy dissident Cu Huy Ha Vu’s court hearing.
Cu Huy Ha Vu
4. On August 3rd of 2011 Paulus was arrested in front of his
home in the capital Hanoi along with 17 others in Vinh
Providence as part of a crackdown on human rights
defenders conducted by the Vietnamese government. He
was initially detained under article 71 of the Penal Code
which outlines activities aimed at overthrowing the
government. He was also accused of being a member of
the exile-run viet tan party it’s mission being to overcome
dictatorship and build the foundation for a sustainable
democracy peacefully.
5. The finalized charge placed against him was attempting to
overthrow the government. Receiving one of the biggest
sentences out of the 18 total arrested he was sentenced to 13
years in prison and 5 under house arrest after a 2 day court
trial.
In May of 2013 his sentence was reduced to 4 years in prison
and 4 years house arrest due to confessing. He later stated
that he did not believe anything he had done was immoral
or a sin and he simply wanted to get out to see his dying
mother, who he later found out had died while he was in
prison. As things are now he will be free from house arrest
in 2018.
6. Citations
•"Paulus Le Son Arrested Again amid Mounting Tension | Reporters without
Borders." RSF. N.p., 04 Aug. 2011. Web. 23 May 2016. <https://rsf.org/en/news/blogger-
paulus-le-son-arrested-again-amid-mounting-tension>.
•Rd. Seventeen Others Were Arrested, Mostly from Vinh Province. Not Adopted (n.d.): n.
pag. Web.
•"2013 Prison Census: 211 Journalists Jailed Worldwide." - Committee to Protect
Journalists. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2016. <https://www.cpj.org/imprisoned/2013.php>.
•"Viet Tan - Vietnam Reform Party - Viettan.org/en." Why Viet Tan. N.p., n.d. Web. 23
May 2016. <http://www.viettan.org/Why-Viet-Tan.html>.
