Vi Đức Hồi

Vi Đức Hồi (born c. 1957

Hồi joined the Communist Party in 1980 and advanced to a high rank training other party leaders. In 2006, he began to advocate the adoption of a democratic system. The following year, he was stripped of his rank and expelled from the party. writing commentaries about government land disputes and "general anti-corruption issues".

In 2008, he was briefly arrested for protesting the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay. As is the norm in Vietnam, the trial was closed to media.

Amnesty International designated Hồi a prisoner of conscience and called for his immediate release. The Committee to Protect Journalists also protested the sentence, calling on the government to release him. Front Line Defenders stated that the charges against Hồi were "a direct result of his legitimate and peaceful work as a democracy activist and in the defence of human rights".

In 2011, Human Rights Watch awarded him its Hellman/Hammett award, "recognizing writers who demonstrate courage and conviction in the face of political persecution".

Hồi is married to Hoang Thi Tuoi.