Trần Anh Kim

Trần Anh Kim (born 15 August 1949) is a Vietnamese democracy activist and former lieutenant colonel in the People's Army of Vietnam. In 2006, he rose to prominence as a pro-democracy activist associated with Bloc 8406. Kim has been charged twice with attempting to overthrow the Vietnamese government, and since 2016 has been serving a 13-year prison sentence. He has been recognised as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.

Personal life Kim was born on 15 August 1949 in Vũ Thư, Thái Bình province, in what was then North Vietnam. Until his imprisonment in 2016, Kim lived in Thái Bình with his wife, Nguyễn Thị Thợm.

Military career Kim served in the People's Army of Vietnam for over thirty years. In 1979, he was seriously injured during the Sino-Vietnamese War, suffering from head injuries while defending northern Vietnam from Chinese occupation by the People's Liberation Army. Kim attained the rank of lieutenant colonel and served as the deputy political commissar of the Military Committee of Thái Bình.

First and second arrests and first prison sentence In 1991, Kim was arrested and charged with mishandling almost 100 million đồng of military funds, shortly before the 7th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam; he was released without charge after the congress had concluded. Kim was arrested on the same charges in 1994 and was given a custodial prison sentence. He was released in 1995 and demoted to the rank of second-class soldier.

Kim vocally maintained his innocence and protested his sentence, and petitioned the government as well as the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam. Kim's rank was restored to a major in 1997, but his continued public criticism of his sentence led to him being ultimately expelled from the army without his entitlements, including his pension.

Fourth arrest and third prison sentence On 21 September 2015, Kim was arrested and charged of breaching article 79 of the penal code for the second time. The evidence cited for the charges stemmed from Kim allegedly founding an organisation, Soldiers Raising the Flag of Democracy , with authorities stated aimed to abolish the Communist Party of Vietnam to form a multi-party political system.

In December 2016, the People's Court of Thái Bình sentenced Kim to 13 years in prison; Lê was also found guilty. After initially serving his sentence in Ba Sao, Hà Nam province, as of August 2017 he is completing his sentence in prison no. 5 in Thanh Hóa province.

In May 2017, Kim and Lê's appeal of their sentence, on the grounds that their right to free speech and association had been breached, was rejected.

In 2018, Kim was among 97 prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International. That same year, Defend the Defenders reported that Kim was experiencing poor health in prison, including prostate gland inflammation, and that his wife had raised concerns that he would not survive his sentence without the appropriate medical treatment.