Nguyễn Lân Thắng

Nguyễn Lân Thắng (born 18 December 1975) is a Vietnamese blogger and human rights activist. He rose to prominence for his documentation of protests and human rights abuses by authorities in Vietnam.

Personal life Thắng was born into an academic family in Hanoi; his parents were both lecturers, with his father employed as a professor of electrical systems at Hanoi University of Science and Technology. Thắng's grandfather, Nguyễn Lân, was named People's Teacher of Vietnam after publishing a popular Vietnamese dictionary. Thắng graduated from Hanoi Architectural University in Hanoi with a degree in engineering. Until his imprisonment, Thắng lived in Đống Đa, Hanoi with his wife Lê Bích Vượng and their children, Đậu and Đỗ. In April 2024, Thắng had been prevented from travelling to the United States from Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. Thắng was remanded in custody, and was not shown the indictment against him until 30 March 2023; he also was unable to see his family between his arrest and the start of his trial in April.

Thắng's trial took place on 12 April 2023 at the People's Court of Hanoi. His lawyer argued that the only evidence cited against Thắng was an interview he gave with the BBC's Vietnamese service, in which he had commented that many believed the revolutionary Võ Thị Sáu may have experienced mental health difficulties. The prosecution claimed that books by the imprisoned dissident Phạm Đoan Trang had been found in his possession. Thắng's sentence is being carried out at prison no. 5 in Thanh Hóa province. Thắng indicated that he would not appeal his sentence, citing the pressure it would place his family under, and also raising concerns it could inadvertently lead to his sentence being extended. A group of international human rights organisations called on the President of Vietnam, Võ Văn Thưởng, to ensure that Thắng had a fair trial by allowing the press and the public to attend it.

Radio Free Asia, where Thắng acted as a contributor, described Thắng's sentence as a "miscarriage of justice", and noted that he was one of four of their contributors currently serving custodial prison sentences in Vietnam.

In December 2023, Thắng's wife Vượng stated that he was being psychologically abused in prison, including being kept in cells with prisoners with mental health difficulties who "swear, scold [and] insult" him, impacting negatively on his mental health. Human Rights Watch accused Vietnamese authorities of using "so-called trustee prisoners" to "terrorise" Thắng and other political prisoners, in order to be able to claim having no direct role in any abuse experienced by dissidents, calling his ongoing detention "completely outrageous and unacceptable".