On December 12th , 2020, the Le Dinh Luong human rights award was celebrated in Sydney city Australia. This award was established by Viet Tan Party and named Le Dinh Luong who is a patriot, had made many efforts to protect the interests of the Vietnamese people and the sovereignty of the country. He was sentenced to 20 years by the Communist dictatorship in October 2018. This award considers as an acknowledgment of an individual or organization’s contributions in fighting for the human rights of the Vietnamese people.
This award is given Phan Kim Khanh – a prisoner of conscience since the age of 24. He was a former student at Thai Nguyen University, where he studied hard and He was elected president of the International Student Association. He received a 2015 scholarship for the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) to attend a training course organized by the United States Embassy in Hanoi.
He has created administered two blogs called “Báo Tham nhũng” (Anti-corruption Newspaper) and “Tuần Việt Nam” (Vietnam Weekly); three Facebook pages called “Báo Tham Nhũng” (Anti-corruption Newspaper), “Tuần Báo Việt Nam” (Vietnam Weekly), and “Dân chủ TV” (Democracy TV); and two YouTube channels called “Việt Báo TV” (Vietnamese Newspaper TV) and “Việt Nam online”. The newspapers provided information about the negative aspects of Vietnam’s politics and society as well as accused Vietnam’s government to repress many Vietnamese people fighting for human rights. He contacted several reactionaries, opposing factors inside the country and overseas to discuss, exchange information, and co-administer the websites” including with Nguyễn Văn Hải (blogger Điếu Cày).
In a published personal statement, he wrote: ” During my sophomore and junior year at the university, I began to examine the problems why Vietnam could not become a developed country… I want to work for genuine media in a near future. I would like to participate in the struggle movement for democracy and freedom of the press in Vietnam.”
However, his significant contributions and efforts for human rights and the development of society were regarded as actions against the state. On October 25, 2017, Khanh was sentenced to six years in prison and four years’ house arrest by the People’s Court of Thai Nguyen province for propagandizing against the state. From that time until now, he has suffered from bleeding caused by hemorrhoids, a condition he did not suffer before his detention. Prison authorities refused to accept medicine and clean clothes brought by his family. In particular, the authorities took different ways to defeat his will and determination, but he has never given up easily. With enthusiasm and courage, Phan Kim Khanh is a good example for Vietnamese students to study.
