Tran Quoc Hien

Trần Quốc Hiền (born 1965 ) is a Vietnamese lawyer, trade union official and dissident. Due to his commitment to the observance of human rights since 2007 he sits in captivity.

Life and work

As the head of a law firm in Ho Chi Minh City, Tran Quoc Hien began to farmers whose land was confiscated by the Vietnamese authorities. He was also known for his anti-government posts on the internet. So Tran Quoc Hien is a member of the acting in Internet -democracy movement "Block 8406 ". On 10 January 2007 he was elected speaker of the independent trade union " United organization of workers and peasants " ( VOAB ). This is considered the first independent trade union in Vietnam. Two days later he was arrested and sentenced on 15 May 2007 for "propaganda against the state " and " security failure " to five years in prison and a further two years of house arrest. Currently he is being held at Camp Z -30A in Xuan Loc in Dong Nai province. In February 2009, he joined together with other political prisoners in a three-day hunger strike to protest the inhumane conditions in the prison.