Đinh Thị Thu Thủy

Đinh Thị Thu Thủy (born 5 September 1982) is a Vietnamese human rights activist and political prisoner. In 2021, she was sentenced to seven years in prison after taking part in the 2018 Vietnam protests.

Personal life Thủy lived in Ngã Bảy, Hậu Giang province, Vietnam with her daughter. She worked as an aquacultural engineer.

Activism Thủy became known as an activist on social media, particularly Facebook, where she wrote posts in support of political prisoners, freedom of expression, and environmental rights, and criticised the implications of the Vietnamese government's investment in overseas projects.

In June 2018, Thủy participated in national protests against two laws drafted by the Vietnamese government, the Special Zone Act (which promoted opening three special economic zones across Vietnam, which critics believed would lead to increasing Chinese intervention and influence in the country), and the Cybersecurity Law (which would give the government the power to control online information and police online activity). Thủy took part in a protest outside the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, during which she and other protesters were temporarily detained, beaten and fined before being released. Following the protest, Thủy was placed under state surveillance. Vietnamese authorities reported finding several masks in Thủy's home decorated with the "No-U" slogan, in reference to territorial disputes over the South China Sea.

Thủy met with lawyers for the first time in December 2020, who reported her mental health as being "poor".

Trial and sentencing Thủy's trial took place on 20 January 2021 at the People's Court of Hậu Giang. She faced charges under article 117 of the penal code, which forbade "conducting propaganda against the state". Evidence used against her included "hundreds" of posts on Facebook which prosecutors stated "distorted and smeared the honour" of Vietnam's leaders, the Communist Party of Vietnam, and the country itself, in addition to "provoking oppositional thoughts" and spreading "false news" about the COVID-19 pandemic. It was alleged that Thủy operated multiple Facebook accounts. She was transported to An Phước detention centre in Bình Dương province to serve her sentence. The United States-based Human Rights Watch called on Vietnamese authorities to stop using the law to prosecute and intimidate human rights activists in the country. The government requested a two-month extension to reply.