Dinh Van Phu

Dinh Van Phu died in Gia Trung Prison, just days before his scheduled release, following severe illness and suspected medical neglect for nasopharyngeal cancer. Fellow political prisoner Luu Van Vinh, who was housed in the same area as Phu, reported in a March 1 call home that Phu suffered from severe diarrhea in his final days.

Arrested in 2020 for "anti-state propaganda" for his online posts, Phu had also protested the draft cybersecurity and economic zone laws in 2018. He had recently been granted a sentence reduction, but the specifics remain unknown. According to Vinh, Phu died on Feb. 25 and was due for release in March. This is a developing.

Dinh Van Phu resided in Dak R’lap district, Dak Nong province, prior to his arrest.

According to state media, from the beginning of 2018 to June 2019, Dinh Van Phu used his Facebook pages such as “Jimy Nguyen,” “Vinh Nguyen Jimy,” and “Nguyen Vinh” to post and share articles on political issues, broadcast live-streams, and participate in live broadcasts organized by other organizations to 'defame the Party and State, to call for demonstration, incite riot and disorder'. State media, quoting the investigation agency, considers the content of his Facebook posts to have anti-state content that 'negatively affect the awareness and thoughts of viewers'.

Phu also reportedly participated in a protest on June 10, 2018, against the draft laws on Cybersecurity and Special Economic Zones, together with Duong Thi Lanh, who was sentenced to eight years in prison in August 2019 on the same charge as Phu. 

Profile photo source: SBTN