In a surprise move, the well-known environmental advocate Hoàng Thị Minh Hồng was released from prison in Vietnam on Saturday. Hồng was sentenced on Sept. 28, 2023, to three years in prison on controversial tax evasion charges, meaning she was released more than two years early. Official Vietnamese media have not reported Hồng’s release, but multiple sources confirmed the development to Mongabay. The move coincided with a trip to the United States by Vietnamese General Secretary and President Tô Lâm, who is attending the United Nations General Assembly. Hồng, who is an Obama Foundation Scholar, was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on May 31, 2023, in a move that shocked the country’s weakened civil society. In 2013, she founded the Center of Hands-on Actions and Networking for Growth and Environment (CHANGE), an NGO that led campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers of wildlife trafficking and air pollution, among other environmental issues. CHANGE shut down in late 2022 under increasing government pressure on Vietnamese NGOs, particularly those focusing on the environment and issues related to energy policy. Her arrest was part of a broader crackdown on high-profile environmentalists such as Goldman Environmental Prize winner Ngụy Thị Khanh, who was released early from her own prison sentence for tax evasion two weeks before Hồng’s detention. The crackdown has moved beyond NGOs, with Ngô Thị Tố Nhiên, founder and executive director of Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition Social Enterprise, recently sentenced to 42 months in prison for “misappropriating state documents.” Nhiên’s…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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