PEN International Amplifies Call for Imprisoned Vietnamese Journalist Pham Doan Trang

Global literary and human rights organization PEN International has renewed its demand for the release of Vietnamese author, journalist, and pro-democracy activist Pham Doan Trang—who is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence under charges of “spreading propaganda against the State.” In a recent Facebook post coinciding with the 2026 PEN Congress, the organization marked a grim milestone for the writer, noting that she is spending her “6th birthday behind bars” and urging the world to speak up on her behalf.

Despite a statement from the United Nations declaring her detention arbitrary and calling for her immediate release, the Vietnamese government proceeded with her sentencing. PEN International noted that she is being held nearly 1,600 kilometers away from her family, making visits from her elderly mother extremely difficult.

The Facebook post features a line-art portrait of Trang, accompanied by the tags #PENCongress and #EmptyChair. Since the 1980s, the organization has symbolically placed an actual empty chair at its public events, panels, and annual congresses. This chair represents a specific writer who is missing from the literary proceedings because they have been imprisoned, detained, disappeared, or murdered by state authorities.

Pham Doan Trang is a widely recognized figure in Việt Nam’s independent media and human rights community. As a prominent publisher and political author, she has spent years documenting systemic abuses, publishing books on civil rights, and advocating for democratic reforms in a country where the press is strictly state-controlled. She was arrested in October 2020 and officially sentenced in December 2021, a move that drew widespread condemnation from international human rights groups who view the charges as a blatant suppression of free speech and political dissent.

As Trang faces another year of arbitrary detention, PEN International’s message remains the same: they are demanding her immediate and unconditional release, fighting to ensure that her empty chair remains a temporary symbol.